reactor power plant when the ves is activated the lower pressure compressed air 8 has a pressure that is essentially equal to that required by the air turbine 15 the recovery and conversion of the stored energy to useful energy in the ves is accomplished while meeting the design requirements of the ves the pressure of the compressed air can vary in certain embodiments the compressed air is initially at a pressure of about 3333 psig e g in the tank 2 the air is adiabatically and isentropically expanded from this initial pressure to a final pressure of about 200 psig this expansion occurs through the air turbine 15 and therefore the pressure of about 200 psig is downstream of the air turbine 15 in certain embodiments a secondary pressure regulator not shown may be employed to further reduce the pressure to that required by the eductor 9 or other component positioned downstream of the air turbine 15 such as an air driven pump as shown in fig3 in certain embodiments the secondary pressure regulator not shown may be positioned between the air turbine 15 and the eductor nozzle 11 the available energy is estimated by multiplying the difference in enthalpy of the initial and final pressure states by the mass of air that is expanded the details of this conversion are later provided herein this energy.