Thermodynamic and economic analysis of hierarchical gas–gas nuclear power plants and CHPs with high-temperature reactors and helium as the circulating medium

This paper presents the results of thermodynamic and economic analyses of innovative, gas–gas nuclear power plants and CHP plants with high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). In these power plants, two Joule cycles are performed in a hierarchical system. One is performed in the high-temperature range, the other in the low-temperature range. The reactor coolant is helium. It is also the circulating medium in the whole gas–gas system. The results of the thermodynamic and economic analyses presented in this paper cover a wide range of thermal capacities of HTGRs, from 100 to 3000 MW.