Gas-cooled pressure tube reactor

A fuel column comprising:

• a structural tube having an interior surface and an exterior surface;
• at least one nuclear fuel insert in the structural tube, the nuclear fuel insert including a nuclear fuel and one or more coolant passages through the nuclear fuel insert through which a coolant can flow;
• and
• an insulating layer between the interior surface of the structural tube and the nuclear fuel insert.

A nuclear power plant comprising:

• a reactor core having a plurality of fuel columns penetrating a calandria, the calandria configured to contain a volume of secondary coolant, each fuel column including a structural tube configured to hold a nuclear fuel;
• a closed-loop supercritical fluid coolant circuit configured to route supercritical fluid into the fuel columns and to remove a heated supercritical fluid from the fuel columns;
• the closed-loop fluid coolant circuit including:
• at least one turbine configured to generate mechanical energy from the heated supercritical fluid and discharge depressurized fluid;
• and
• at least one compressor configured to compress the depressurized fluid and discharge pressurized supercritical fluid to the reactor core.