Future Reactors
The Centre for Nuclear Energy Technology provides the focus for the Institute in engaging with international advanced reactor development programmes and initiatives. The Institute engages collaboratively in international research on future reactor systems with a particular focus on nuclear physics, materials performance, control and instrumentation and fuel technology.
Generation III+ Reactors
Key research and development areas for the development of high temperature reactors (Gen III+ systems) includes research in control & instrumentation reactor physics, materials technology, manufacturing technology and fuels technology. Additional development is required in the design and testing of systems to integrate nuclear heat supply, power conversion and hydrogen production and the design and integration of hydrogen production facilities.
Generation IV Reactors
Research and development areas relevant to the Institute for Advanced Thermal and Fast Reactor Systems (Gen IV) include materials performance, fuel technology, control & instrumentation, reactor physics and manufacturing technology.
Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactors
ADSRs are a novel form of nuclear fission reactor. The effective neutron multiplication factor is below 1 meaning that a self-sustaining chain reaction can't occur. Instead the fission process is driven by an external neutron source, a proton beam hitting a spallation target. This process may be linked to conventional nuclear reactor technology in an accelerator-driven system to transmute long-lived radioisotopes in spen nuclear fuel into shorter lived fission products. There is also interest in the application of accelerator-driven systems to running subcritical nuclear reactors powered by thorium.
Fusion:
Nuclear fusion has long been identified as a highly desirable source of safe power generation which does not have proliferation consequences. Manchester continues to develop its experience in this key area.
Nuclear Fusion is the energy-producing process which takes place continuously in the sun and stars. For energy production on earth different fusion reactions are involved. The most suitable reaction occurs between the nuclei of the two heavy forms of Hydrogen - Deuterium (D) and Tritium (T).
Main advantages
- Fuels are plentiful
- Inherently safe: no "runaway" accidents possible
- No atmospheric pollution leading to acid rain or global warming
For D-T fusion reactions to occur, the required temperature is about 300 million degrees centigrade. At such temperatures the gaseous fuel is completely ionised, forming a "plasma". One technique of confining this hot plasma is to use a "magnetic bottle". Devices called tokamaks are used to confine plasmas for a sufficiently long time to allow useful fusion power production. Development of fusion power stations is still decades away but some activities in magnetic confinement research at Manchester that contribute towards the UK and international fusion programmes are: fusion power handling from a plasma, plasma diagnostic development and technology R&D for the ITER reactor.