THTR-300
| THTR-300 | |
|---|---|
Cooling tower of the THTR-300 (demolished in 1991)
|
|
| Country | Germany |
| Coordinates | 51°40′45″N 7°58′18″E / 51.67917°N 7.97167°ECoordinates: 51°40′45″N 7°58′18″E / 51.67917°N 7.97167°E |
| Construction began | 1971 |
| Commission date | November 16, 1985 |
| Decommission date | April 20, 1988 |
| Owner(s) | HKG |
| Operator(s) | HKG |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | PBR |
| Power generation | |
| Units decommissioned | 1 × 308 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 308 MW |
| Capacity factor | 40.1% |
| Average generation | 1,083 GWh |
|
Website Official Site |
|
The THTR-300 was a thorium high-temperature nuclear reactor rated at 300 MW electric (THTR-300). The German state of North Rhine Westphalia, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Hochtemperatur-Kernkraftwerk GmbH (HKG) financed the THTR-300’s construction.
Operations started on the plant in Hamm-Uentrop, Germany in 1983, and it was shut down September 1, 1989. The THTR was synchronized to the grid for the first time in 1985 and started full power operation in February 1987.
Whereas the AVR was an experimental pebble bed high-temperature reactor (HTR) operated by VEW used to develop the pebble fuel, the THTR-300 served as a prototype HTR to use the TRISO pebble fuel. The THTR-300 cost €2.05 billion and was predicted to cost an additional €425 million through December 2009 in decommissioning and other associated costs.
The electrical generation part of the THTR-300 was finished late due to ever-newer requirements and licensing procedures. It was constructed in Hamm-Uentrop from 1970 to 1983 by Hochtemperatur-Kernkraftwerk GmbH (HKG). Dr. Heinz Riesenhuber, Federal Secretary of Research at that time, inaugurated it, and it first went critical on September 13, 1983. It started generating electricity on April 9, 1985, but did not receive permission from the atomic legal authorizing agency to feed electricity to the grid until November 16, 1985.
The THTR-300 was a helium-cooled high-temperature reactor with a pebble bed core consisting of approximately 670,000 spherical fuel compacts each 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in diameter with particles of uranium-235 and thorium-232 fuel embedded in a graphite matrix. The pressure vessel that contained the pebbles was prestressed concrete. The THTR-300's power conversion system was similar to the Fort St. Vrain reactor in the USA, in that the reactor coolant transferred the reactor core's heat to water.
...
Wikipedia