Background
Schulten, Rudolf was born on August 16, 1923 in Oeding, Germany. Son of Franz and Lucia (Stucke) Schulten.
physicist university professor
Schulten, Rudolf was born on August 16, 1923 in Oeding, Germany. Son of Franz and Lucia (Stucke) Schulten.
Doctor rerum naturalium, Max Planck Institute, 1952.
Schulten"s concept compacts silicon carbide-coated uranium granules into hard, billiard-ball-like graphite spheres to be used as fuel for a new high temperature, helium-cooled type of nuclear reactor. The idea took root and in due course a 46 MW_th (megawatt thermal) experimental pebble bed reactor (the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor, or ) was built at the Jülich Research Centre in Jülich, West Germany. lieutenant operated for 21 years but was shut down in the wake of Chernobyl.
Some of the last pebble fuel tested in the AVR was for a low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel cycle anticipated for use in the design by Interatom/SIEMENS.
Based on the AVR South Africa along with international partners developed an updated version called the PBMR. The TRISO fuel elements could use either Thorium or U-235 in the form of LEU as fuel.
The project was unfortunately cancelled in 2010 due to lack of investment, even though the technology has essentially been completely developed. The technology is currently being developed mainly in China who currently operate a 10 MW test reactor (HTR-10) of this type.
The Chinese are, as of 2015, building a commercial pebble-bed reactor: HTR-Prime Minister.
Member of German Nuclear Society, Rhenish Westphalian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences America (correspondent).
Married Elisabeth Stutzel Schulten, March 11, 1953. Children: Rudolf, Georg, Maria.