Recycling of Used Nuclear Fuels - An Interesting Theory, page-6

1. By 2027, demonstrate operation of a nuclear renewable

hybrid energy system.

Objective 3: Support a diversity of designs that improve resource utilization.
Liquid metal-cooled fast reactors and molten salt reactors offer significant advantages, including greater efficiency and less waste.
The United States is developing a wide range of advanced reactors that maximize resource utilization, minimize waste, and take advantage of a diversity of materials.
Liquid metal-cooled fast reactors use liquid metal—such as sodium or lead—as a coolant. This enables operation at higher temperatures and lower pressure than current reactors, improving efficiency.
Because they use a fast neutron spectrum (neutrons can be used to cause fission without having to be slowed down), these reactors could also operate with used fuel from current reactors to produce energy.
High-temperature reactors, discussed above, also improve efficiency by operating at a high temperature.
Online refueling allows for even higher capacity factors.
Molten salt reactors use molten fluoride or chloride salts as coolant or fuel. Due to their higher operating temperatures and online fuel reprocessing, they could use resources more effectively and produce less radioactive waste. They have the potential to improve the economics of nuclear energy production by using a low-pressure coolant system and adding fresh fuel without lengthy refueling outages.
Some molten salt reactor concepts could consume used fuel from other reactors, reducing the amount of material for disposal.
NE is also performing research on advanced integrated energy systems.
These systems couple nuclear, renewable, and fossil energy sources to produce electricity and non-electric energy products such as heat.
These integrated systems make smarter use of resources and allow for flexible energy production, making them more responsive to market dynamics and more profitable. We aim to demonstrate operation of a thermally integrated, nuclear-renewable hybrid energy system by 2027 and enable broad commercial adoption for new builds by 2035.