Here's what Trooper meant...
This is what his class has studied, we went over this at home before he did his part of the report, its chemical not nuclear.
The XYTEL CORPORATION 1001 Cambridge Drive Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Chemical reactors are shrinking to notebook and even credit card size. The technology offers a safer way to produce some toxic materials—but it could be deadly in the wrong hands, experts warn. "Micro-reactors" convert chemicals—for example a fuel cell micro-reactor may be able to turn methanol into hydrogen to power a car—in much the same way a building-size chemical recator does, only on a smaller scale. The tiny reactors are not easily obtainable, and the chemicals used in them can be highly unstable. As a result, experts say, they aren't the most practical but can power a three city block area or even a large industrial plant. Micro-reactor technology is still in its infancy, but the technology offers a suite of valuable benefits. The ultraefficient systems offer a safer working environment for hazardous materials. Everything is in small quantities and in a small reactor, so that, even if you do have some kind of leak, it can be contained.
MULTI MICRO REACTOR UNITS
HIGH THROUGHPUT
Catalyst evaluation units for the refining and petrochemical industries have been a mainstay of Xytel’s product line throughout it’s 25 year history. Now, to meet the fastpaced demand of researchers today, Xytel is pleased to present its Multi Micro Reactor Unit. The Multi Micro Reactor Unit is
designed specifically for the quick screening analytical methods required to
understand the performance of catalysts in the shortest possible time.
CONSISTENT
The Unit features up to 10 reactors operating in parallel; all at the same
conditions:
Gas and/or liquid feed flow rates
Pressure
Temperature
The Unit features a dedicated, PC based control system, specifically configured for your particular application. They are fully automated, yet modifiable.
FLEXIBILITY
The Multi Micro Reactor Units are intended for the catalytic study of various types of processes. The Units are designed for catalyst screening, evaluation, and kinetic studies. To date, these units have been
considered for isomerization, reforming, oxidation, and some power sources.
Although designed to be as turnkey and compact as possible, the Multi Micro reactor Unit is designed to be adaptable should research plans take a different direction.
TYPICAL SYSTEM SPECS
Reactors : 3 cc catalyst charge
Reactor pressure: to 500 psig
Reactor temperature: to 650 oC
Reactor MOC: 316 stainless steel
Gas flow rate: 2 – 15 sccm
Liquid flow rate: 0.02 – 0.16 g/min
Feeds
Xytel uses a proprietary gas distribution modules to evenly regulate the flow to all of the reactors. The module is designed specifically for each application. When required for a wider range of applications, multiple pre-made, quick loading systems can be provided.
Reactors
To ensure isothermality, the reactors are positioned in a solid metal block which fits into a custom designed isothermal furnace. Multiple sets of the reactor / block assemblies can be provided. When the first set is being run, the operator can get the second set packed and ready for the next
run.
Products
Handling of the reactor effluent depends on the application. All have automatic pressure control. Xytel has designs for the
following:
Gas product: sent to GC.
Gas–liquid product: liquid vaporized and
composite sent to GC.
Gas–liquid product: gas separated, passes through a sampling valve which
directs the reaction stream to the on-line GC
Found this on the news...
Alaska Village Moves from Diesel to 'Micro-Nuke'
The small town of Galena, Alaska, is tired to pay 28 cents/kwh for its electricity, three times the national average. Today, Galena "is powered by generators burning diesel that is barged in during the Yukon River's ice-free months," according to Reuters. But Toshiba, which designs a small nuclear reactor named 4S (for "Super Safe, Small, & Simple"), is offering a free reactor to the 700-person village, reports the New York Times (no reg. needed). Galena will only pay for operating costs, driving down the price of electricity to less than 10 cents/kwh. The 4S is a sodium-cooled fast spectrum reactor -- a low-pressure, self-cooling reactor. It will generate power for 30 years before refueling and should be installed before 2010 providing an approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Galena officials met with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. If the commission approves the plan, the reactor would be the first new one permitted in the United States since the early 1980s, according to an Alaska Public Radio Network report on Thursday.
Energy to power electricity is important to Galena. Winter temperatures can dip below minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 51 Celsius). Daylight is scarce because of the short days during the winter. Galena is powered by generators burning diesel that is barged in during the Yukon River's ice-free months. That is costly and carries its own environmental risks because diesel can spill. Toshiba, which designs a new 10-megawatt nuclear reactor, offered to install one of these in the hope that other isolated towns will follow, explains the New York Times. Toshiba offered Galena a free reactor if the town would pay the operating costs, estimated at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, about the national average for power. In December, the City Council voted unanimously to take it. Galena looked at other sources of energy, such as coal, which pollutes, and solar power, but the sun is not very present at this kind of latitude. So it decided to take the nuclear path.
Here are some details about the 4S reactor.
Toshiba calls its design the 4S reactor, for "super-safe, small and simple." It would be installed underground, and in case of cooling system failure, heat would be dissipated through the earth. There are no complicated control rods to move through the core to control the flow of neutrons that sustain the chain reaction; instead, the reactor uses reflector panels around the edge of the core. If the panels are removed, the density of neutrons becomes too low to sustain the chain reaction.
Is this really a Super-Safe nuclear reactor? The design is described as inherently safe, but it does have one riskier feature: It uses liquid sodium, not water, to draw heat away from the core, so the heat can be used to make steam and then electricity.
Designers chose sodium so they could run the reactor about 200 degrees hotter than most power reactors, but still keep the coolant depressurized. (Water at that temperature would make steam at thousands of pounds of pressure a square inch.) The problem is that if sodium leaks, it burns.
Anyway, if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves it -- which could cost millions of dollars to Toshiba -- the 4S reactor could be installed by
2010. It will use uranium enriched to 20 percent and generate power for 30 years before needing to be disposed of and replaced. If you're really interested by this 4S reactor to be installed in Galena, you should read "Public Information and Outreach in Galena, Alaska," a document prepared by the Washington, D.C., firm Shaw Pittman LLC (PDF format, 20 pages, 360 KB). The above images come from this document.
Sources: Reuters, February 3, 2007; Matthew L. Wald, The New York Times, via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 3, 2007; Shaw Pittman LLC, March 23, 2007