{
  "patent_number": "US 11728052",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "TerraPower's Molten Salt Reactor with Internal Heat Exchangers",
  "original_title": "Fast spectrum molten chloride test reactors",
  "summary": "This patent describes a unique molten salt nuclear reactor design by TerraPower, featuring an open-topped vessel and integrated heat exchangers for efficient internal cooling and fuel circulation.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent outlines a molten fuel salt nuclear reactor where the main vessel is open at the top but has no other openings, a design choice intended to simplify construction and enhance safety. Inside this vessel, a 'neutron reflector' surrounds the core where nuclear reactions occur. Above this core, several 'heat exchangers' are placed, acting like radiators to remove heat from the hot molten fuel salt. A 'flow guide assembly' with a 'draft tube' directs the hot fuel salt from the central core region, through the heat exchangers, and then down an 'annular downcomer duct' before it flows back into the central core region, creating a continuous cooling loop. For example, hot fuel salt from the core flows up, transfers its heat to a coolant in the shell-and-tube heat exchangers (Claim 5), then flows down the annular downcomer duct, and re-enters the core to be heated again.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Molten salt reactors where the primary reactor vessel has openings or penetrations other than the top opening (Claim 1).",
    "Reactor designs where the heat exchangers are located outside the main reactor vessel (Claim 1).",
    "Circulation systems that do not use a 'draft tube' to separate the central reactor core volume from an 'annular downcomer duct' (Claim 1).",
    "Reactors that do not circulate fuel salt from the reactor core volume, through heat exchangers, into a downcomer duct, and then back into the reactor core volume (Abstract)."
  ],
  "filed": "2021-07-28",
  "granted": "2023-08-15",
  "expires": "2041-07-28",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Terra Power",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/terra-power",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Anselmo T. Cisneros, JR.",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/anselmo-t-cisneros-jr"
    },
    {
      "name": "Daniel J. Walter",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/daniel-j-walter"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael J. Edwards",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/michael-j-edwards"
    },
    {
      "name": "Noor Ullah",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/noor-ullah"
    },
    {
      "name": "Francesco Deleo",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/francesco-deleo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kent E. Wardle",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/kent-e-wardle"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gregory T. Markham",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/gregory-t-markham"
    },
    {
      "name": "James A. Roecker",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/james-a-roecker"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 1,
  "tags": [
    "nuclear_energy",
    "clean_energy",
    "engineering",
    "materials"
  ],
  "abstract": "Alternative designs for a modular test reactor are presented. In one aspect, a molten fuel salt nuclear reactor includes a vessel defining a reactor volume, the vessel being open-topped and otherwise having no penetrations. A neutron reflector is provided within the vessel and displacing at least some of the reactor volume, the neutron reflector defining a reactor core volume. A plurality of heat exchangers are contained within the vessel above the neutron reflector. A flow guide assembly is provided within the neutron reflector that includes a draft tube draft tube separating a central portion of the reactor core volume from an annular downcomer duct. Fuel salt circulates from the reactor core volume, through the heat exchangers, into the downcomer duct and then back into the reactor core volume.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11728052/fast-spectrum-molten-chloride-test-reactors",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11728052/fast-spectrum-molten-chloride-test-reactors/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11728052",
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