CONSULTING LOCAL COMMUNITIES
The fuel pellets are stacked into graphite blocks where helium gas flows through cooling channels to moderate temperatures. USNC says the benefit of using helium is that it does not react with the fuel or main parts of the reactor and remains free of radioactive products. Some of the main differences that the MMR has from conventional nuclear plants is that the reactor cannot meltdown as the heat is passively released into the environment, does not need any active systems to remove heat, and requires no on-site fuel storage, handling, or processing. These aspects are why USNC has dubbed this design a “walk-away safe reactor” that can last for 20 years once installed. Darlington explains that during the decommissioning process, the core of the reactor could be replaced or the reactor could be removed and enter the federally regulated nuclear waste stream. David Novog, a nuclear energy professor at McMaster University, explains that there is currently zero nuclear waste buried in C...