A new era of nuclear energy is emerging through innovative nuclear reactors that are to satisfy the new philosophies and criteria that are being developed by the INPRO program of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It is establishing a new paradigm in relation to nuclear energy. The future reactors should meet the new standards in respect to safety, economy, non-proliferation, nuclear waste, and environmental impact. The fixed bed nuclear reactor (FBNR) is a small nuclear reactor that meets all the requirements. It is an inherently safe and passively cooled reactor that is fool proof against nuclear proliferation. It is simple in design and economic. It can serve in a dual purpose plant to produce simultaneously both electricity and desalinated water, thus making it especially suitable to the needs of the Middle-East Countries. FBNR is being developed with the support of the IAEA under its program of small reactors without on-site refueling. The reactor uses the pressurized water reactor technology. It fulfills the objectives of design simplicity, inherent and passive safety, economy, standardization, shop fabrication, easy transportability, and high availability. The inherent safety characteristic of the reactor dispenses with the need for containment; however, a simple underground containment is envisaged for the reactor in order to reduce any adverse visual impact.

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Pressure drops of water and critical steam flowing in the fixed bed of mono-sized spheres are studied using SolidWorks 2017 Flow Simulation CFD code. The effects of the type of bed formation, flow velocity, density, and pebble size are evaluated. A new equation is concluded from the data, which is able to estimate pressure drop of a packed bed for high particle Reynolds number, from 15,000 to 1,000,000.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through its INPRO Project has developed a methodology to evaluate the innovative nuclear reactors. Here is a preliminary application of this methodology to evaluate the Fixed and Fluidized Bed Nuclear Reactor Concept (FBNR). The FBNR is based on pressurized light water reactor technology. It is a small, modular, and integrated primary circuit reactor. It is an inherently safe and passively cooled reactor concept. FBNR in its first phase of development is a fixed bed nuclear reactor and in its next phase will be a fluidized bed nuclear reactor. FBNR in its advanced versions can use supercritical steam or helium gas as coolant, and utilize MOX or thorium fuel.

Small nuclear reactors without the need for on-site refuelling have greater simplicity, better compliance with passive safety systems, and are more adequate for countries with small electric grids and limited investment capabilities. The Fixed Bed Nuclear Reactor (FBNR) is based on the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) technology. FBNR is an integrated primary circuit and simple in design. It has the characteristics of being small, modular, inherently safe and passively cooled reactor with reduced adverse environmental impact. The spherical fuel elements are fixed in the suspended core by the flow of water coolant. Any accident will signal cutting off of power to the coolant pump causing a stop in the flow. These results in making the fuel elements fall out of the reactor core by the force of gravity and become stored in the passively cooled fuel chamber under subcritical condition. Therefore, the simplicity and passive safety characteristics of the reactor in the ambit of a well dominated technology, makes it a viable option for the near future deployment.