Resumen de Nuclear graphite has a "rosy future"

Laura Syrett, James Sean Dickson

• "The future is very rosy for nuclear graphite," Gareth Neighbour, professor and head of mechanical engineering and mathematical sciences at Oxford Brookes University, told attendees. The next, fourth generation of nuclear reactor designs (Generation IV) is currently in development, though construction is unlikely to occur until the 2030s, according to the World Nuclear Association. But a new raft of reactors with fresh design principles would lead to increased nuclear graphite production.

  "Each new graphite grade requires extremely expensive research," [Neighbour] said. "If we are going to develop new graphites for Generation IV reactors, we need to learn lessons from the past." Neighbour explained that nuclear graphite is manufactured in the same way as industrial graphites, with the only difference being in the purification method at the end, where impurities are removed through chlorination.