Design of SEALER, a very small lead-cooled reactor for commercial power production in off-grid applications

In this paper, the conceptual design of a small lead-cooled nuclear reactor intended to replace diesel-power in off-grid applications is presented. In a vessel of dimensions making it transportable by air, the targeted design performance is to produce 3 MW of electrical power for up to 30 years without reloading of fuel. Consequently, the inner vessel can be sealed, delaying malevolent access to the nuclear fuel and improving security. Alumina forming alloys are applied to ensure long term corrosion protection of fuel cladding tubes, steam generator tubes and primary vessel over the operational temperature regime. Moreover, decay heat can be removed in a completely passive manner by natural convection from the core to the primary coolant and by thermal radiation from the primary vessel to the environment. Finally, the source term is such that relocation of population residing beyond 1 km from the reactor will not be required even in the case of a complete core melt.