Numerical Simulations of Passive Heat Removal from Mobile Microreactors

As nuclear energy becomes increasingly vital to the goals of carbon neutrality by 2050, nuclear microreactors are being researched as an option for easily transportable energy. Designed to be transportable, factory fabricated, and self-adjusting, nuclear microreactors will fill in the gaps to help make the U.S. power grid more robust. Before designs can proceed, studies must be conducted on the safety of transporting these mobile microreactors while confined within a standard International Organization for Standardization (ISO) shipping container. Because of their mobile nature, microreactors will not have access to many of the engineered decay heat removal methods that traditional reactors utilize during shutdown. Current regulations state that the surface temperature of the microreactor needs to remain below 85°C while being transported on highways.