Next-generation nuclear power plant project with grid-scale energy storage technology is about to start

China Energy Storage Network: Last October, after receiving a grant of $80 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, Bill Gates' Terrapower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy launched a project called "Natrium". "Natrium" means "sodium" in Latin, and it is understood that the project will commercially demonstrate "cost-competitive sodium fast reactors and molten salt energy storage systems".

It is understood that the Natrium demonstration plant will be put into operation in mid-2021, and its fast neutron reactor will use high-temperature liquid sodium as the reactor coolant.

One of sodium's main advantages is its huge temperature range of 785 Kelvin between its solid and gaseous states; water only offers a temperature range of 10 Kelvin, so it needs to be pressurized to handle the higher thermal energy.

Liquid sodium at atmospheric pressure transfers a lot of heat away from the reactor, and it doesn't dissociate into hydrogen and oxygen, so a Fukushima-style hydrogen explosion is impossible. It's also non-corrosive, sidestepping the issues that have raised questions about molten salt reactors.

In terms of safety, when there is a power outage, the control rods will drop down on their own due to gravity, and the natural circulation of air will serve as emergency cooling.

Moreover, because of the liquid sodium design, the power plant does not need a huge containment vessel like a light water reactor, and the design places the reactor underground, which again improves the safety factor while reducing costs.