The HT3R Energy Research Program | The HT3R Energy Research Program |
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We're Not Just a Reactor - we're a Generation IV (GEN-IV) Teaching and Reactor Technology Development Program! The University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) High-Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor (HT3R) Energy Research Program is an important national energy security asset that will help lead the US and world to an energy-sufficient future! As the name implies, its purpose is to 1) Provide a pipeline of highly-trained engineers and scientist to the National Laboratories, the energy industry, and U.S. governmental agencies; plus 2) Establish, with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a Generation IV (GEN-IV) technology research, development and test center for diverse energy systems with a primary mission to develop a modern architectural framework for the design, licensing, and deployment of advanced (Gen-IV) technologies and reactor systems. The base technology that will be used to accomplish this mission is the GEN-IV High-Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR), which has the capability to adequately address the urgent shortages in energy for both our transportation and fixed-based needs. If funding becomes available, the HT3R Research and Test Reactor Facility is proposed to be constructed in Andrews County no later than 2015 and be owned and operated by a LLC that somehow involves both UTPB and LANL in its operations. A Pre-Conceptual Design for this facility was completed in 2007 by a team led by UTPB and General Atomics, with assistance from O'Donnell Engineers, Inc, and the University of Texas at Austin Mechanical Engineering Department. In the interim, non-nuclear experimental and computer simulation will be used as we start to address these important technical goals. Academic support for UTPB students in this program is primarily available through scholarships and internships provided by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), with additional supplemental support coming from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and UTPB scholarship funds. Contact the HT3R Project Office if you wish to provide any form of assistance through either scholarships or other programmatic support for research and development. If you are a student seeking information about financial aid in this program, please navigate to the top of this page and follow the link to, and complete, the HT3R Scholarship Application Request form. Why a GEN-IV Technology Research & Test Facility! As set forth in the Department of Energy's Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), the very high operating temperature of GEN-IV reactors can address key energy security and environmental problems in the United States and world today. The HT3R teaching and test facility that will help train the next generation of scientists and engineers on how to operate these new "passively safe" nuclear reactors that can generate electricity at efficiencies above 50% while not emitting green-house gases. Additionally, the excess high-temperature process heat from these reactors is sufficient to economically create hydrogen from water, synthetic hydrocarbon fuels from coal and long-chain hydrocarbons, plus desalinate brackish water. We're Located in a Region that Knows about Nuclear! The University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) has campuses in both Ector and Midland County and is located near the center of our country's largest on-shore oil and gas production center called the Permian Basin. Our campuses are also within 150 miles of several important nuclear facilities including:
We would like to welcome you to our HT3R website and to the new and exciting world of advanced nuclear energy technology. We hope you will navigate around this website to learn more about this important project. Organization of this Web Site
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