HAGÅTÑA, Guam (Pacific Island Times) — Department of Defense officials are gathering information to determine the feasibility of using a small-scale nuclear power reactor on Guam.
Two DoD representatives were in Guam for a week at the end of January for that purpose and to inform residents and local officials about “Project Pele”- the name given the reactor which is still being developed.
“Project Pele is a transportable micro nuclear reactor producing one to five megawatts of net electrical power for three years,” said Jeff Waksman, program manager for DoD’s Strategic Capabilities Office. He was speaking to members of the Guam Legislature during a public hearing on Jan. 25.
Waksman emphasized that no decision has been made as to where to deploy the reactor once it has been built. Guam is one of a number of locations being evaluated, he said. He would recommend against operating it where local residents opposed it, as part of what he called consent-based siting.
Project Pele is to utilize a new nuclear fuel named advanced gas reactor tri structural isotropic particle fuel, known as AGR TRISO. The TRISO fuel particles are tiny, about the size of a poppy seed, according to the Department of Energy website. Each particle comprises a spherical uranium, carbon and oxygen fuel center. The center is encased in three layers of carbon- and ceramic-based materials that prevent the release of radioactive fission products.
The Pele reactor does not have any flowing water.
Officials hope to begin assembling the reactor prototype this summer in Lynchburg, Virginia, and then will transport it to the Idaho National Laboratory for further testing by mid-2025.
