Compressed air, utility-scale, non-polluting energy storage and nuclear reactor emergency cooling system using thermal power plant waste heat

A nuclear thermal power plant, comprising:

• a nuclear reactor having a reactor pressure vessel containing fuel rods configured to heat a fluid to provide a source of a high-pressure heated fluid for driving a primary turbine,
• a primary turbine configured to receive said high-pressure heated fluid and produce mechanical power configured to drive a primary electrical generator,
• a primary electrical generator driven by said mechanical power from said primary turbine, said primary electrical generator configured to produce primary electrical power,
• said primary turbine having an outlet configured to convey exhaust fluid from said primary turbine,
• a compressed-air tank configured to hold a quantity of compressed air,
• a secondary heat exchanger configured to receive compressed air from said compressed-air tank and at least some of said exhaust fluid from said primary turbine and configured to supply heat from said exhaust fluid to said compressed air,
• a secondary turbine configured to receive said heated compressed air from said secondary heat exchanger and produce mechanical power from said heated compressed air as it expands in said secondary turbine,
• a secondary electrical generator configured to receive said mechanical power from said secondary turbine and generate secondary electrical power, and
• means for selectively conveying said compressed air from said compressed-air tank to said fuel rods of said reactor pressure vessel for cooling said fuel rods in case said fuel rods become overheated,
• whereby additional power is supplied by said secondary generator, the amount of cooling water required to cool said exhaust fluid from said primary turbine is reduced and said fuel rods are configured to be cooled by a local source if they become overheated.