Within the scope of TUBITAK 1001 – Supporting Scientific and Technological Research Projects Program, the scientific evaluation process of the projects proposed to the Research Support Programs Directorate (ARDEB) in the 1st term of 2022 has been completed and announced to the public by TUBITAK.
Energy Institute Faculty Member Asst. Prof. Dr. Senem Sentürk Lule’s project "Design of a Thorium Fueled Micro Nuclear Reactor" was entitled to receive support from TUBITAK as one of the 14 projects to be supported within ITU.
Micro nuclear reactors that can generate electricity at the level of 10 MWe are evolutionary emerging designs. With this project an answer to the question “How it is possible to design a mobile micro nuclear reactor that utilizes thorium to minimize the foreign dependency and to be used at remote areas, in agricultural lands that area not considered today due to difficulty in electricity supply but may be required in the future, in case of disasters, and for the military applications”. A new multi-physics (neutronic and thermal-hydraulic) methodology is going to be developed and it will be transformed into a new software. A new micro reactor design is going to be created to provide required power with required size without compromising the nuclear safety with the selection of appropriate fuel geometry and design, fuel loading and core design.