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Rudolf Schulten | |
|---|---|
 Rudolf Schulten | |
| Born | (1923-08-16)August 16, 1923 |
| Died | April 27, 1996(1996-04-27) (aged 72) |
| Nationality |  Germany |
| Known for | the main developer of thepebble bed reactor design |
| Awards | Otto Hahn Prize(1972) Werner von Siemens Ring(1987) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Doctoral advisor | Werner Heisenberg |
Rudolf Schulten (16 August 1923 – 27 April 1996) was a German physicist who was professor atRWTH Aachen University and the main developer of thepebble bed reactor design, which was originally invented byFarrington Daniels. Schulten's concept compacts silicon carbide-coated uranium granules into hard, billiard-ball-like graphite spheres to be used as fuel for a new high temperature, helium-cooled type ofnuclear reactor.
The idea took root and in due course a 46 MWth (megawatt thermal) experimental pebble bed reactor (the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor, orAVR reactor) was built at theJülich Research Centre inJülich,West Germany. It operated for 21 years but was shut down in the wake ofChernobyl, and multiple safety issues.[1]
Some of the last pebble fuel tested in theAVR was for alow enriched uranium (LEU) fuel cycle anticipated for use in the HTR-MODUL project design byInteratom/SIEMENS.
Based on the AVR, South Africa along with international partners developed[when?] an updated version called thePBMR. TheTRISO fuel elements could use either Thorium or U-235 in the form of LEU as fuel. The project was cancelled in 2010 due to lack of investment, even though the technology has essentially been completely developed.
The technology is currently being developed mainly inChina who currently operate a 10 MW test reactor (HTR-10) of this type. The Chinese are, as of 2015, building a commercial pebble-bed reactor:HTR-PM, with two 100MWe reactors.[2] One achieved a sustained chain reaction (criticality) in Sept 2021.[2]
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