As long as your reactor can hold the TRISO pellets, there should be no risk of melting or even releasing the most dangerous isotopes produced by the reactions. There are still some safety concerns as the neutrons will still escape and can convert some of the surrounding material into unstable isotopes. But the Antares design surrounds TRISO with a graphite coating that should slow down most of these neutrons.
To reduce non-radioactive risks, the Antares design uses sodium to transfer heat from the reactor to a heat exchanger. The heat is transferred to the pressurized nitrogen, which then drives the turbine at a closed Brayton cycle setup.
Antares is currently testing only what it calls the Mark 0 reactor, which is not connected to the power generation part. Instead, it is used to validate modeling of the physical conditions at the company’s reactors and generate safety data that can be used during licensing applications. Attempts to start the entire system, including power generation, are expected to take place next year.
While the work is carried out at the Department of Energy Laboratory, the company works with the Ministry of Defense The Pele project mobile nuclear reactor development program. The company also bought Support from NASA.
