The electrification of semitrucks appears to be a feasible, environmentally sustainable means of transporting cargo long distance until recharging logistics are considered. Cross-country treks will require 18-wheelers to consume five to 10 times more electricity than an electric car to replenish batteries. Noting that the lack of an extensive U.S. recharging infrastructure poses a major barrier to the rise of the electric truck, U.S. Argonne National Laboratory researchers have developed a rest stop power supply solution in the form of nuclear microreactors.

The power system design pairs a liquid metal thermal reactor with a thermal energy storage system, each of which could fuel an average of 17 trucks a day. When not being tapped to recharge truck batteries, the reactor core heats a pool of liquid metal that vaporizes and passively heats another liquid functioning as a heat transfer agent via a heat exchanger. This second liquid holds the heat and converts it to electricity for battery recharging via a steam generator. The liquid metal pool then cools, condenses back into a liquid and recirculates back into the reactor core.

The system operates with tri-structural isotropic pellets proven as a safe nuclear fuel source after 60 years of research. Protective layers of carbon and ceramics coat the low-enriched uranium as a safety barrier.

Operating at the relatively low temperature of 700° F, such nuclear-powered recharging stations could safely and economically operate for 10 years or more without refueling.