HTGR Knowledge Base

Conference Article: Utility/user requirements for the MHTGR desalination plant

Brown, S.J. (Gas-Cooled Reactor Associates, San Diego, CA (USA)); Snyder, G.M. (Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (USA))

Abstract

This paper describes the approach used by Gas-Cooled Reactor Associates (GCRA) and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) in developing Utility/User (U/U) Requirements for the Modular High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (MHTGR) Desalination Plant. This is a cogeneration plant that produces fresh water from seawater, and electricity. The U/U requirements for the reference MHTGR plant are used except for those changes necessary to: provide low-grade heat to a seawater desalination process, enable siting in a Southern California coastal area, take advantage of reduced weather extremes where substantial cost reductions are expected, and use seawater cooling instead of a cooling tower. The resulting requirements and the differences from the reference MHTGR requirements are discussed. The nuclear portion of the design is essentially the same as that for the reference MHTGR design. The major differences occur in the turbine-generator and condenser, and for the most part, the design parameters for the reference plant are found to be conservative for the desalination plant. The most important difference in requirements is in the higher seismic levels required for a Southern California site, which requires reassessment and possible modification of the design of some reference plant equipment for use in the desalination plant.

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key words: Gas Cooled Reactor, Nuclear Technology
Reference:
Technical committee meeting on design requirements, operation and maintenance of gas-cooled reactors. San Diego, CA (USA). 21-23 Sep 1988
International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria). International Working Group on Gas-Cooled Reactors
IWGGCR--19, pp:17-23