Nuclear reactor with an axially stratified fuel bed

Abstract

A nuclear reactor has an axially stratified fuel bed. The reactor features a reactor shell having a base, a top having an exhaust outlet, and an axis. The axially stratified fuel bed is within the reactor shell, and includes: a first zone configured to operate at a first temperature T1, the first zone comprising a plurality of first fuel particles, each first fuel particle comprising a first radioactive ceramic core and a first ceramic seal coating; and a second zone configured to operate at a second temperature T2, where T2>T1, the second zone comprising a plurality of second fuel particles, each second fuel particle comprising a second radioactive ceramic core and a second ceramic seal coating. A coolant fluid flow path carries a coolant fluid from the base of the reactor to the exhaust outlet, along a flow path passing sequentially through the first zone and the second zone. The first ceramic seal coating has greater stability at T1 than at T2, and the second ceramic seal coating has greater stability at T2 than the first ceramic seal coating.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.