Hacker News Reader

> BWXT's design consists of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) with a power output between 1-5 MWe.

I couldn't understand from the article what runs a turbine (hot gas?). Can someone explain how electricity is generated?

View on HN

Note IANANE (I am not a nuclear engineer) but most probably by using a closed Brayton cycle. The gas is heated which expands and drives the turbine, the hot gas is cooled via a heat exchanger, compressed then fed through the reactor again.

https://energy.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2-3.-HTGR-... has a diagram on page 2 that explains it better than I can

>The mobile microreactor would be coupled with a power conversion system that generates approximately 1 to 5 MWe using an open Brayton gas cycle

https://www.cto.mil/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Final-EIS-Vol...

Sounds like an air compressor+turbine, but heated by a heat exchanger instead of burning fuel.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com