Hey everyone, I’m Jake, and for the last 7 years, I’ve been running a small liquid argon gas supply business—so I get asked this question all the time: can liquid argon actually be useful in nuclear power plants? It’s not the first thing most folks think of when they hear “nuclear power” (you’re probably picturing reactors, cooling towers, and that iconic blue glow from Cherenkov radiation), but let me break this down straight, no stuffy lab jargon, just what I know from talking to plant engineers and hauling liquid argon tanks to job sites every week. Liquid Argon Gas
First, let’s get the basics out of the way. Liquid argon (that’s LAr, by the way—shorter, easier than saying the full name) is a super-cold, inert liquid, boils at like -186°C, right? It’s also non-toxic, doesn’t react with most other materials, and is a pretty good radiation detector. For nuclear plants, two main things matter: they need to keep reactors safe, and they need to accurately measure radiation from things like spent fuel or reactor cores. Let’s start with the safety side, because that’s the big one for any power plant.
A lot of people don’t realize that nuclear reactors need cooling to keep control rods working and prevent overheating. Water’s the usual go-to, but sometimes, in specialized parts of the plant—like when they’re doing maintenance on the primary coolant system or handling high-level waste—water can be a problem. It can mix with radioactive materials to make tritiated water, which is a pain to contain, or it might react with certain metals at high temps, causing corrosion. That’s where LAr comes in. It’s a great alternative coolant for small, closed loops in those maintenance areas because it doesn’t react with anything, even when it’s right next to radioactive stuff. I’ve had a few nuclear plant clients tell me they use LAr for cooling small radiation detectors they insert into reactor cores—way more stable than water, no risk of contamination from leaks.
Now the other big use: radiation detection. This is where LAr has blown up in the last 10 years, honestly. For nuclear plants, they need to track things like neutrons, gamma rays, and even tiny particles coming from fission reactions. Regular detectors use things like silicon or gas, but LAr is a better medium because it’s dense and can stop even really weak radiation particles, which means you get way more accurate readings. One of the coolest applications I’ve seen is in liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs)—those are big tanks of LAr that can pinpoint where a radiation particle hits, down to a millimeter. Nuclear plants use these for checking spent fuel pools to make sure all the fuel rods are accounted for, and they’re also used in decommissioning projects—when you’re tearing down an old plant, you need to detect leftover radiation in walls and pipes, and LArTPCs are way more precise than anything else out there.
But wait, I know what some of you are thinking—can it actually be scaled up for a whole power plant, not just small parts? Let’s be real here: LAr isn’t going to replace the main reactor coolant (that’s almost always water or liquid metal for fast reactors) any time soon. The cost is a big factor. Making liquid argon requires cryogenic distillation from air, which takes energy, so it’s more expensive than water on a per-gallon basis. For most large-scale reactor cooling, that’s not feasible. But here’s the thing: nuclear plants don’t just need main coolant. When I talk to plant managers, they tell me they use LAr for a bunch of secondary, but critical, tasks. Like, when they’re calibrating radiation monitoring systems around the plant, they need a reliable source of radiation that doesn’t contaminate the area. LAr-based detectors do that perfectly, and it’s easy to haul in small LAr tanks for that. Also, in some advanced small modular reactors (SMRs)—those smaller, modular reactors that are being built a lot now—engineers are testing LAr as a backup coolant. Because if the main water cooling system fails, LAr can kick in fast, since it’s already stored on site. That’s a game-changer for safety, and I’ve been supplying LAr to a few SMR prototype sites over the last two years.
Now, let’s get honest about the challenges. I can’t sit here and say it’s perfect. First, storage: LAr has to stay cold, so you need insulated tanks that are way more expensive than regular water tanks. If a tank has a tiny leak, the LAr boils off, and you lose it—so you have to do regular checks, which adds labor cost. Also, handling liquid argon is tricky; it’s so cold it can cause frostbite in seconds, so workers need specialized training. That’s why a lot of plants are only using it for specialized tasks, not everything. But here’s the good news: the cost of making LAr has come down a lot in the last decade. New cryogenic distillation systems are way more energy-efficient, so I can offer clients competitive prices now that I couldn’t 5 years ago. And for plants that care about reducing contamination risks (which is almost all of them), the extra cost is worth it.
I’ve had a lot of people ask me, “Why not just use regular argon gas instead of liquid?” Fair question. Liquid argon is way denser—you get 1,000 times more argon in a tank of liquid than you do in a gas tank at the same pressure. For nuclear plants, that means you don’t have to refill as often, which is a huge deal because nuclear plants run 24/7, any downtime for refueling is costly. Liquid is also easier to transport in large bulk, which is why my business focuses on liquid argon supply specifically—we can deliver 10,000-gallon tanks to a plant in one trip, whereas gas would need a truck every few days. That’s a big win for efficiency.
Let me throw in a real example from a client I worked with last year. A nuclear power plant in the Midwest needed to upgrade their spent fuel inspection system. Their old system used gas detectors that gave blurry, inaccurate readings, so they switched to a LArTPC. They reached out to me because they needed a steady supply of liquid argon to keep the tank cold. We set up a regular delivery schedule, once every two weeks, to replace the argon that boils off. Within six months, they cut inspection errors by 90%, which meant they could move spent fuel out of storage faster, reducing the risk of overcrowding in their spent fuel pools. That’s the kind of impact LAr can have, right there.
Another thing I want to mention: nuclear power plants are under a lot of pressure to improve safety and reduce their environmental footprint. LAr fits into both of those goals. Since it’s inert, if there’s a leak, it just evaporates into the air—no radioactive contamination, no chemical spills. Water leaks can carry tritium or other radioactive materials, which is a big regulatory headache. LAr leaks? They’re harmless, just a cold fog. That’s why more and more compliance officers are pushing plants to use inert coolants for secondary systems, and liquid argon is the top choice right now.
Now, let’s talk about what’s next. I’ve been hearing rumors that some next-generation nuclear reactors—like the ones being built for space, or for remote areas where water is scarce—are planning to use liquid argon as the primary coolant. If that happens, demand for LAr is going to skyrocket. My team and I have already started expanding our storage capacity to meet that demand. But even for existing plants, there’s a lot of untapped potential. A lot of plant managers don’t even know that LAr is a viable option for their radiation detectors, and that’s where I come in. I don’t just deliver tanks— I work with engineers to figure out how much LAr they need, what kind of storage works for their space, and how to handle it safely.
Wait, I should also address a common misconception: some folks think liquid argon is radioactive itself, which would be a disaster in a nuclear plant. No way. Argon is a noble gas, and the stable isotope (argon-40, which is what we produce for supply) is completely non-radioactive. The only radioactive isotope of argon is argon-39, which is present in tiny, tiny amounts in air—we filter that out during distillation, so our LAr is pure and non-radioactive. That’s a critical point, because you can’t have a radiation detection or cooling system that adds more radioactivity to the plant.
So putting it all together: can liquid argon gas (wait, no, liquid argon—important to not mix up liquid and gas) be used in nuclear power plants? The answer is a resounding yes, but not as a replacement for main reactor coolant. It’s used as a specialized coolant for maintenance and backup systems, and it’s become the gold standard for radiation detection and spent fuel handling. The challenges (cost, storage, handling) are real, but they’re manageable, and as the nuclear industry grows—especially with SMRs and decommissioning projects—LAr is only going to become more important.
If you’re a nuclear plant manager, engineer, or safety officer who’s looking to integrate liquid argon into your operations, don’t hesitate to reach out to discuss your specific needs. We work with facilities of all sizes, from small SMR prototypes to large commercial plants, and we can tailor a supply solution that fits your budget and schedule. Whether you need a one-time delivery for a project or ongoing weekly or bi-weekly refills, we’ve got you covered.
Household Gas Cylinder References
- National Nuclear Security Administration. (2021). Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers for Nuclear Non-Proliferation. U.S. Department of Energy.
- International Atomic Energy Agency. (2022). Advanced Coolants for Small Modular Reactors. IAEA TECDOC Series.
- Cryogenic Society of America. (2020). Liquid Argon Applications in Nuclear Facilities. CSA Technical Paper.
- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (2019). Inert Coolants for Nuclear Power Plant Secondary Systems. NRC Regulatory Guide.
- Nuclear Engineering International. (2021). Liquid Argon Gains Traction in Decommissioning Projects. NEI Industry Report.
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