The High-Temperature Teaching & Test Reactor (HT
3R or HT3R) is a multifaceted energy research facility proposed by the
University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) and the
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), to be located in
Andrews County, Texas. The proposal envisions a 25MWt (Megawatt thermal) reactor operated by a merchant nuclear power operating company with the education and science at the facility managed through an arrangement between LANL and UTPB/UTS (
University of Texas System
The University of Texas System (UT System) is an American government entity of the state of Texas that includes 13 higher educational institutions throughout the state including eight universities and five independent health institutions. The UT& ...
).
The original Pre-Conceptual Design (PCD) for the facility was completed in January 2008 by UTPB and
General Atomics. The HT
3R, per the PCD, is a "
Generation IV" (GEN-IV) gas-cooled (with Helium) reactor with a graphite block core containing fuel “compacts.” These compacts are made by mixing graphite with
TRISO fuel pellets with Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) which has less than 20% of
Uranium-235. However, the “new” planned
operating temperature
An operating temperature is the allowable temperature range of the local ambient environment at which an electrical or mechanical device operates. The device will operate effectively within a specified temperature range which varies based on the de ...
of 700° to 750 °C is well below the previous PCD operating temperature of 850° to 900 °C first called for by the DOE’s NGNP program.
The HT
3R will be the experimental cornerstone of a new energy research center at the UTPB. Since the early 1990s, no new university teaching and training reactors have been constructed, and in fact, many across the United States have been shut down. Further, only two other aging water-cooled research reactors, one at the
University of Missouri (1966) and one at the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (1967), are capable of operating at power levels greater than 10 MWt that can provide useful facilities for fuel qualification, training, and basic advanced research. Neither of these reactors can provide the enhanced capabilities necessary for education, research, and pilot-scale testing for Gen-IV reactor systems.
The mission of the HT
3R is to serve as a national user facility for:
*Demonstrating that a Green Freedom
TH pilot plant can be used to manufacture ''
synthetic hydrocarbon fuels'', in sufficient quantities per kWh