Very high temperature reactor economics

The activation energy for the side reaction is 84.1 kJ/mol, making it nearly 3 times more responsive to temperature than the main reaction. At 453 K, where the side reaction starts playing an important role, this translates to a 5 percent increase in the side reaction per kelvin compared to less than 2 percent for the main reaction. At very high temperatures the side reaction completely dominates the picture. Control and optimization of reactor temperature is essential for economic operation. 

Although the reductions in plant costs from the magnox to the AGR and high-temperature reactors have been and will continue to be important factors in the development of economic gas-cooled reactors in the power range of 500 to 1000 MWe, it is to be expected that future improvements in capital costs of very large plants will be less significant than possible improvements in fuel cycle economics. For example, the differ-... 

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