Star Core Nuclear | Small HTGC Reactor Credentials

[etudiant]

There is a Canadian firm, Star Core Nuclear, attempting to launch a novel small reactor, helium cooled, modular, carbide coated fuel.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Canadian-design-review-for-StarCore-HTGR-0811167.html

Does anyone have any insight as to their credentials and design skills?

 

[Astronuc]

From StarCore's website: http://starcorenuclear.ca/#!/welcome/
http://starcorenuclear.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Meet-StarCore.pdf

Other than the CTO, most of the principals are businessmen. The CEO and co-founder, David B. Dabney, has experience in the energy and process industries. Dabney 20 years with Alcoa have given him tremendous experience in large scale industrial operations. As CEO of Dadco Australia he was responsible for the acquisition of the Stade Refinery, and establishing it as the leader of specialty alumina production in Europe. He worked with Woodside Petroleum in International Business Development for the generation of downstream LNG opportunities and applications. He was also forefront in the acquisition and turn-round of Almatis, growing it from sales of $300 million to over $500 million in less than 2 years with operations in 13 locations globally.

David A. Poole, CTO and co-founder, is a former Royal Naval Test Pilot, graduating from the United States Naval Test Pilot School, where he specialized in Digital Control Systems, and later becoming an Experimental Test Pilot for both the Royal Navy and United States Navy. He has started two very successful companies, the second one, Altair Aerospace, being acquired by Aeroflex, a multinational test and instrumentation company, for whom he works parttime as CTO. He has a great deal of experience in running large scale engineering operations, and has designed software and control systems for many very complex space and ground based applications, including PWR nuclear plants and Fissile Waste management systems. He was responsible for the StarCore design concept that received excellent reviews at the TRM in January 2013, has established close contacts with many nuclear industry specialists, was the Canadian Representative at the INPRO conference on Small Nuclear Reactors and SMR Control Systems Working Group. He is also a member of the Canadian CSA Group, who are developing SMR Nuclear I&C CyberSecurity Regulations. He holds degrees in Mathematics and Physics and has extensive post-graduate education in math modeling and control systems.

The World Nuclear News article mentions "The helium-cooled reactor uses Triso fuel - spherical particles of uranium fuel coated by carbon which effectively gives each tiny particle its own primary containment system - manufactured by BWXT Technologies. Each reactor would require refuelling at five-yearly intervals." So BWXT makes the fuel, but it's not clear who does the core and fuel cycle designs. That requires someone familiar with an appropriate cross-section library and core simulator.

Otherwise, it seems StarCore is responsible for the plant design and perhaps ex-core balance of plant.

Ostensibly, they have provided CNSC and peer-audiences with some technical detail, which presumably provides some vetting.

 

[raining Pete]

From my research, Star Core Nuclear seems to have a strong team of experienced professionals in the nuclear industry. Their CEO, Dr. Mark Noordhoff, has over 30 years of experience in nuclear engineering and has worked on various nuclear projects around the world. Additionally, their team includes experts in reactor design, fuel technology, and safety analysis.

In terms of their design skills, their proposed small reactor using helium cooling and carbide coated fuel is quite innovative and has the potential to be more efficient and safer than traditional nuclear reactors. However, as with any new technology, it will need to undergo thorough reviews and testing to ensure its viability.

Overall, I believe Star Core Nuclear has the credentials and design skills necessary to make their small reactor a success. It will be interesting to see how their design fares in the Canadian design review process and if it will be adopted in other countries.