Sandia mini-reactor fits in three-storey office space
The Sandia mini-reactor would be about the size of a two- or three-storey office building. At its heart is a small uranium core submerged in a tank of liquid sodium. The sodium capturies the high temperatures of the core and carries it to a heat exchanger, where liquid carbon dioxide then absorbs the heat. The CO2 expands rapidly, forcing its way through a jet-like turbine that spins an electric generator. It would be a closed-loop system, meaning the CO2 would be recycled over and over again.
