. please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . january 2016 this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . january 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message hyperion power generation inc. type private industry nuclear power founded santa fe new mexico usa headquarters denver colorado key people robert e. prince ceo david carlson coo chief nuclear officer website www.gen4energy.com gen4 energy inc formerly hyperion power generation inc. 1 is a privately held corporation formed to construct and sell several designs of relatively small 70 mw thermal 25 mw electric nuclear reactors which they claim will be modular inexpensive inherently safe and proliferation resistant . according to news coverage these reactors could be used for heat generation production of electricity and other purposes including desalinization . the company is currently attempting to license their technologies through the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission . contents 1 revised 2009 design uranium nitride fueled lead bismuth cooled reactor 1.1 fuel and coolant selection 1.2 thermal hydraulics energy production and extraction 1.3 licensing strategy 2 current competing designs 3 references 4 external links revised 2009 design uranium nitride fueled lead bismuth cooled reactor edit hyperion announced in november 2009 that despite their continued intentions to pursue the self moderated uranium hydride reactor urgent customer needs for a rapidly licenseable and deployable reactor are causing them to choose another lanl design for initial commercialization . they are moving forward with a more conventional generation iv reactor design a uranium nitride fueled lead bismuth cooled reactor . using a liquid metal cooled fast reactor should speed the time to commercialization over the more revolutionary uranium hydride self modulating design that had previously been publicly discussed . 2 usnrc concept illustration of a hyperion power module plant . 3 fuel and coolant selection edit according to hyperion the uranium nitride fuel incorporated in the design is generally similar in physical characteristics and neutronics to the standard ceramic uranium oxide fuel that is used at present in modern light water nuclear reactors . however it has certain beneficial traits higher thermal conductivity and thus less retained heat energy that make it preferable over oxide fuels when used at temperature regimes that are greater than the 250 to 300 c 482 to 572 f temperatures found in light water reactors . 4 by operating at higher temperatures steam plants can operate at a higher thermal efficiency . the presentation by hyperion at the ans 2009 conference mentions the use of the doppler inherent negative temperature coefficient of reactivity in this reactor as a means of control . 5 nuclear scientist alexander sesonske avers that nitride fuels have both received very little development as of 1973 and seem to have a very favorable combination of physical properties especially in fast reactors . 6 whether this carries over to lead bismuth cooled reactors is a question not answered in the reviewed literature though the soviet union has worked with this type of reactor before in naval service ; in particular the alfa class submarine well known in the west for its high speed operation was driven by such a lead bismuth reactor which is known to have worked very effectively . 4 the hyperion module has sufficient fuel for 3650 full power days at 70 mwth is capable of load following and is meant to be built in pairs ; one module can be at power while another can be under installation or uninstallation at the same time ensuring reliable supply of electricity . 4 thermal hydraulics energy production and extraction edit hyperion plans to use natural circulation of the lead bismuth coolant through the reactor module as a means of primary cooling . coolant temperatures within the primary loop should be approximately 500 c 932 f . powered intermediate heat exchangers also using lead bismuth coolant are located within the reactor and run an intermediate loop going to a third ex reactor heat exchanger the steam generator where heat is transferred to the working fluid heating it to approximately 480 c 896 f . two schemes of power generation exist at this point either using superheated steam or supercritical carbon dioxide to drive rankine cycle or brayton cycle turbines . in addition to the classical use of power generation further uses for the heated working fluid can include desalinization process heat and district heating and cooling . the thermal hydraulics of the lead bismuth reactor are dictated by the high heat capacity and unique properties of the lead bismuth eutectic coolant . this coolant has several extremely beneficial properties for a reactor it is opaque to gamma radiation but transparent to neutron flux ; it melts easily at a low temperature but does not boil until an extremely high temperature is reached ; it does not greatly expand or contract when exposed to heat or cold ; it has a high heat capacity ; it will naturally circulate through the reactor core without pumps being required whether during normal operation or as a means of residual decay heat removal ; and it will solidify once decay heat from a used reactor has dropped to a low level . 4 licensing strategy edit hyperion intends to pursue the licensing of the uranium nitride lead bismuth small reactor with the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission nrc though the firm s deployment schedule the target date for deployment was for the end of 2013 as well as indications from senior personnel within hyperion indicates that perhaps the reactor will bypass the normal lengthy nrc process for commercial reactors and will instead be initially deployed by the u.s. department of energy or the u.s. department of defense not subject to nrc regulation or that hyperion will seek a 10cfr50 .21 class 104 research and development reactor license from the nrc . 4 as of may 2010 update hyperion expects to apply to the nrc for regulatory approval within a year . 7 possibilities for manufacture in nations other than the united states have also been mentioned as a way to overcome the nrc s lesser agility in responding to the commercial introduction of unique and innovative features of this reactor design . in particular hyperion plans to manufacture reactors in the united kingdom which has demonstrated recent national leadership in the field of nuclear energy while a yet to be announced nation in asia is targeted for manufacture as well . 4 current competing designs edit see list of small nuclear reactor designs nuscale toshiba 4s mpower by babcock & wilcox company terrapower references edit hyperion power generation inc. announces change of company name to gen4 energy inc. 13 march 2012 businesswire hyperion launches u2n3 fuelled pb bi cooled fast reactor 20 november 2009 nuclear engineering international hyperion power module hpm nuclear regulatory commission filing february 10 2010 accessed 2010 03 10 . a b c d e f adams rod ; rudin forrest ; trapp tj 2010 01 21 . the atomic show 148 hyperion power module update audio interview . the atomic show . adams atomic engines inc. the podcast network . retrieved 2010 01 24 . campagna mark s. 2009 11 18 . presentation pdf format . american nuclear society meeting 2009 . denver colorado usa hyperion power generation . pp. 6 8 . access date requires url help sesonske alexander november 1973 . 7.161 . in technical publications department ornl oak ridge tennessee . nuclear power plant design analysis 1st ed . . technical information center office of information services u.s. atomic energy commission . p. 373 . isbn 0 87079 009 9 . retrieved 2009 11 29 . cs1 maint uses editors parameter link small nuclear reactors are becoming big business the race is on to develop refrigerator size reactors that could power small towns or plants business week 2010 05020 accessed 2010 05 24 . external links edit about gen4 energy retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title gen4 energy & oldid 725477115 categories nuclear reactorsnuclear power companies of the united statesnuclear energy in the united stateshidden categories pages using citations with accessdate and no urlcs1 maint uses editors parameterwikipedia articles in need of updating from january 2016all wikipedia articles in need of updatingarticles with a promotional tone from january 2016all articles with a promotional tonepages using infobox company with unsupported parametersarticles containing potentially dated statements from may 2010all articles containing potentially dated statements navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages polski svenska edit links this page was last modified on 15 june 2016 at 22 05 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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