Decarbonizing and strengthening the global energy infrastructure using nuclear batteries
Snapshot
GRAND CHALLENGE
MIT Faculty and Researchers
Jacopo Buongiorno (lead), Ross Allen, Sacit Cetiner, Fabio Duarte, Kerry Emanuel, Nicholas Fang, Benoit Forget, Charles Forsberg, Jeremy Gregory, Ruonan Han, Asegun Henry, Christopher Knittel, Gordon Kohse, Ju Li, John Parsons, David Rand, Carlo Ratti, Guiseppe Romano, Daniela Rus, Koroush Shirvan, Neil Todreas, Jessika Trancik, Kripa Varanasi, Erez Yoeli
MIT Schools/Affiliation
External Collaborators
Michael Ford (Argonne National Lab)
Research summary
The purpose of this project is to develop a flexible and road-transportable energy system consisting of a nuclear microreactor, or “nuclear battery”, and a turbo-generator, as well as their interfaces with end-user equipment. The nuclear battery system will be factory-fabricated, fueled with low-enriched uranium, and operated autonomously. This system has the potential to provide on-demand, carbon-free, economic, resilient, and safe energy for utility-scale electricity generation, distributed electricity generation, and heat applications.
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