PRISM (Power Reactor Innovative Small Module, sometimesS-PRISM fromSuperPRISM) is a nuclear power plant design byGE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH).
The S-PRISM represents GVH'sGeneration IV reactor solution to closing thenuclear fuel cycle and is also part of its Advanced Recycling Center (ARC) proposition[1] to the U.S. Congress to deal withnuclear waste.[2] S-PRISM is a commercial implementation of theIntegral Fast Reactor developed byArgonne National Laboratory between 1984 and 1994.
It is asodium-cooledfast breeder reactor, based on theExperimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) design, scaled up by a factor of ten.[3]
The design utilizes reactor modules, each having a power output of 311 MWe, to enable factory fabrication at low cost.
In an identical fashion to the EBR-II that it is based on, the reactor would transition to a much lower power level whenever temperatures rise significantly, moreover the reactor vessel modules are pool type, as opposed to loop type, with the pool conferring substantialthermal inertia and the final key safety feature includes a "RVACS", which is a passive reactor vessel air cooling system to removedecay heat. These safety systems are passive and therefore always operate and are to preventcore damage when no other means of heat removal are available.[4]
As of 2022, the PRISM design is not under active consideration.
The integral fast reactor was developed at the West Campus of theArgonne National Laboratory inIdaho Falls, Idaho and was an extension (inc fuel reprocessing) to theExperimental Breeder Reactor II, which achieved first criticality in 1965 and ran for 30 years. The Integral Fast Reactor project (and EBR II) was shut down by theU.S. Congress in 1994. GE-Hitachi (GEH) continued work on the concept until 2001.[3]
In October 2010, GEH signed amemorandum of understanding with the operators of theDepartment of Energy's (DOE)Savannah River site, which should allow the construction of a demonstration reactor prior to the design receiving fullNRC licensing approval.[5]
In October 2011,The Independent reported that the UKNuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and senior advisers within theDepartment of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) had asked for technical and financial details of the PRISM, partly as a means of reducing the country'splutonium stockpile.[6] In July 2012, GEH submitted a feasibility report to the NDA showing that the PRISM could provide a cost-effective way of quickly dealing with the UK's plutonium stockpile. The feasibility report includes an assessment from the consultancy firm DBD Limited suggesting there are "no fundamental impediment(s)" to the licensing of the PRISM in the UK.[7][8] A 2012Guardian article pointed out that a new generation of fast reactors such as the PRISM "could dispose of the waste problem, reducing the threat of radiation andnuclear proliferation, and at the same time generate vast amounts of low-carbon energy".David J. C. MacKay, chief scientist at the DECC, was quoted as saying that British plutonium contains enough energy to run the country's electricity grid for 500 years.[9] Recent announcements of planned expansion of nuclear power in the UK have made no reference to PRISM.[10]
In 2018 PRISM was selected byBattelle Energy Alliance to support the DOE decision making on theVersatile Test Reactor (VTR) program.[11] In February 2019, DOE expected to complete the initial stage of deciding whether to proceed with the VTR within a few weeks.[12] The VTR program was scrapped in 2022.[13]
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