TerraPower

Pavel Hejzlar

Core Design

​Pavel Hejzlar is responsible for developing the design of the traveling wave reactor’s core. Before joining the TerraPower team, Hejzlar was principal research scientist and program director for Advanced Reactor Technology Program and Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

At MIT, Hejzlar designed high-performance annular fuel for pressurized water reactors that could increase power by 50 percent. This fuel received worldwide press coverage and is currently under development. Also at MIT, Hejzlar collaborated on an advanced supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system for Generation IV nuclear power plants. This system is currently being tested at Sandia National Laboratory and is under development in a number of countries, including the U.S., Canada, France, Great Britain, Japan and Korea. Hejzlar also served as head of the Nuclear Engineering Program at Czech Technical University (CTU). His research topics include thermal hydraulic and neutronic aspects of nuclear energy systems, development of innovative reactor designs with enhanced safety and improved economics, and the nuclear fuel cycle. 

Hejzlar received his Sc.D. in Nuclear Engineering from MIT in 1994. He is author or co-author of more than 150 publications in technical journals and conference proceedings, and the co-author of the book “Safety Features of Operating Light Water Reactors of Western Design.” Hejzlar is named as an inventor on the patent for the Passive Pressure Tube Light Water Cooled and Moderated Reactor.

Technical Publications