SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Japan's government is considering whether or not new nuclear power plants will be built:
Japan's trade ministry will launch a panel to revise the government's basic energy plan and consider a need to build new nuclear plants or replace existing plants in the future, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.
[...] The government will keep its current plan to reduce its reliance on nuclear energy but it would propose to keep a minimal amount of nuclear power for long-term stable power supplies and maintain technology and personnel, according to the report.
A target by the industry ministry for nuclear to provide about a fifth of the country's electricity in 2030 provoked widespread criticism when it was finalised in 2015.
[In light of the fallout from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, what would be a reasonable and prudent level of nuclear power for Japan? --martyb
(Score: 5, Interesting) by kaszz on Friday June 09 2017, @01:02PM (3 children)
There are many alternatives:
* Fission: Breeder reactor that will produce more fuel than it consumes (superficially, the energy principle still applies)
* Fission: Accelerator driven reactor to re-use "spent" fission fuel.
* Fission: Liquid cores
* Fission: Using liquid metal or salt cooling loop to enable high temperatures without insane pressure
* Fission: Explore Thorium? (easy access at 2.5-20% in ore)
* Fusion: Polywell
* Fusion: ITER (slow progress)
* Black hole: compress matter and use hawking radiation etc. The catch is how to compress matter fast enough to initiate the process.
* Use oxidation of Clathrate hydrates (won't solve the CO2 issue though!)
And if any conventional reactor is to be built. Make it handle being put under water instead of trying to prevent it. Make it submersible, if submarines can take it. Then a reactor may also be built for the same conditions. And most of all go directly for Gen-3 or better.
Take all MBA and executive style of people out of the loop and implement Hyman Rickover standard for bosses. The cleanup process obviously suffers from suboptimal bosses running it considering what technicians writing about the work say.
I think Japan has a good shoot at this. They have the industrial base, clever people, the money and the desperate need. Creativity may lack however as people are raised to "fit in".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 09 2017, @01:37PM
Yes, indeed, it's a bamboo shoot, certain species of bamboo can grow 90 cm/day, that's more than good, that's great.
(Score: 3, Informative) by BananaPhone on Friday June 09 2017, @04:09PM (1 child)
IMHO they should at least reproduce the Molten Salt Reactor.
-Self regulating
-passive safety (Freeze plug)
-No shutdown needed to refuel
-Higher temp (good for industrial processes, not just boiling water to make power)
-No high-pressure
-No MASSIVE building (could fit in a shipping container!)
-valuable side-products from the "waste"
The only catch: Keep away from water. Molten salt and water mix violently.
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Friday June 09 2017, @08:06PM
> The only catch: Keep away from water. Molten salt and water mix violently.
You seem to be confusing them with sodium-cooled reactors. Metallic sodium can react violently with water, if they come in contact. There are other disadvantages, however:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_Salt_Reactor#Disadvantages [wikipedia.org]