Discover the Innovative GCFTR Concept from Georgia Tech's NRE Program

[theCandyman]

Here's part of an email I just got about this week's seminar at my university.

A Gas-Cooled Fast Transmutation Reactor (GCFTR) concept has been developed
in the NRE Senior/Graduate design project in the NRE Program at Georgia
Tech. The objective of the GCFTR is to fission > 90 % of the transuranics
in the spent nuclear fuel discharged annually from three 1000 MWe LWRs. The
GCFTR will operate sub-critical with a fusion neutron source in order to
achieve greater fuel cycle flexibility for achieving high burnup of the
transuranics. This presentation will cover the thermal and fusion neutron
source designs

I read through this, and I was wondering if this is something that might really be built someday. It seems that it is just a bunch of ideas combined so that everyone in the senior design has something they would like to do. One of my friends who is a graduate was working on heat transfer. I see parts of this project that might interest people working on nuclear materials, neutron economy, fusion design, handling of waste, ect. Are design projects just a playground for ideas?

 

[Astronuc]

Are design projects just a playground for ideas?

Yes and no. Design projects might involve some radical concepts, which may or may not be practical. However, the objective is to take what the senior NE's have learned in the various disciplines of nuclear physics, mechanical engineering (thermodynamics, mechanics of materials, fluid dynamics/mechanics, . . . .), electrical engineering, . . . and pull it together in a design process - which is what happens in real life as an engineer.

An engineer will be part of a design team, and even though the engineer will be given a specific task, he or she ought to be able to contribute to other tasks, and particularly he or she ought to know how the other tasks will affect his or her own task. For example, if the thermo person wants to raise the hot temperature, then the materials person needs to identify the materials performance issues (contraints, penalties, impossibility) before the thermo group goes to far down that path.

Design is a complex and dynamic process, and it requires diligent and competent individuals to complete a design efficiently with realistic and achievable goals. Some of the problems existing today are related to the lack of experience and foresight of 30-40 years ago.

 

[raining Pete]

Well, it's hard to say for sure if this particular project will end up being built in the future. It definitely seems like a lot of different ideas are being combined in this design, which could make it less feasible in the long run. However, design projects can definitely be a playground for ideas and a way for students to explore different concepts and technologies. It's also a great way for students to gain hands-on experience and apply what they've learned in the classroom to real-world problems. Who knows, maybe one of these ideas will lead to a breakthrough in nuclear technology!