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from the safe-like-ms-windows-and-real-estate-doing-fission-together dept.
Wyoming has selected billionaire Bill Gates's company TerraPower LLC and Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway's owned power company PacifiCorp to build the nation's first Natrium reactor. As reported by Reuters:
TerraPower, founded by Gates about 15 years ago, and power company PacifiCorp, owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N), said the exact site of the Natrium reactor demonstration plant is expected to be announced by the end of the year. Small advanced reactors, which run on different fuels than traditional reactors, are regarded by some as a critical carbon-free technology than can supplement intermittent power sources like wind and solar as states strive to cut emissions that cause climate change.
"This is our fastest and clearest course to becoming carbon negative," Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said. "Nuclear power is clearly a part of my all-of-the-above strategy for energy" in Wyoming, the country's top coal-producing state.
The project features a 345 megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten salt-based energy storage that could boost the system's power output to 500 MW during peak power demand. TerraPower said last year that the plants would cost about $1 billion.
[...] Chris Levesque, TerraPower's president and CEO, said the demonstration plant would take about seven years to build.
"We need this kind of clean energy on the grid in the 2030s," he told reporters.
Also seen over at ZeroHedge.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday June 04 2021, @09:10AM (4 children)
wouldn't be a problem, by using Sodium as a coolant the core isn't under nearly as much pressure as using water.
Water boils at 100 degrees C at sea level so water has to be kept under a fair bit of pressure to keep it form turning into steam, I think it was around 70SPI in a normal reactor. Breach that coolant system and all the coolant becomes steam in an instant. Like taking the radiator cap off when the engine is over heating.
Sodium on the other melts at about 97 C but doesn't boil until it gets to around 880 degrees C, well above the operating temperature of a nuclear reactor, so the core vessel would be under no significant pressure. And if a leak did happen the Sodium would just cool, solidify and seal the leak.
I think this Natrium design also uses the Sodium as a moderator (its late and I'm very tired, might be wrong about this), which slows high energy neutrons down enough to get captured by the fuel and cause a fission event. Lose the Sodium coolant and the neutrons stop getting captured, shutting the reactor down passively.
however a plan crashing into it would still be really messy.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @01:32PM (1 child)
There are 2 types of water moderated reactor: Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) and Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). Both are old designs. Most nuclear reactors are PWR. In a PWR, water is not allowed to boil on the reactor side. The heat from the reactor water is transferred via a heat exchanger (in other words it is not in direct contact) to an isolated secondary system which has water that is allowed to boil and turns a turbine to generate electricity. In a BWR, the water is allowed to boil and turn a turbine directly to generate electricity; there is no heat exchanger and no isolated secondary system. BWRs are the second most common type of reactor and many new plants have been built as BWRs (renewed interest, mostly overseas). Note that BWRs still operate under pressure, but far less than a PWR.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_water_reactor [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @10:42PM
Is there any inherent advantage to the boiling water type, other than not needing to build two isolated systems? I would think the turbines would hold up better if they are isolated from the reactor water, so I wonder why the boiling type have renewed interest.
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Friday June 04 2021, @03:32PM
If it ever happens, I'll bring pretzels, margarita mix, tequila, and limes. Can't let that salt go to waste.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday June 05 2021, @09:31AM
The problem is that all that stuff in the core of the reactor, including the sodium coolant, is highly radioactive and so you really don't want it exposed to the environment, explosions or not. Sodium is highly chemically reactive, particularly with water, so it needs to be kept properly isolated from the outside world. Secondly, it absorbs a neutron in the core and becomes extremely radioactive. It's a great coolant because of its high specific heat capacity and because it doesn't have to be kept under pressure, as you said, but you really don't want it to be anywhere but behind a very thick and strong biological shield. The same goes for the nuclear fuel. It's really great that they are thinking of using fast reactors again to use up the plutonium. But it really has to be handled carefully.
When many nuclear power stations were built, the idea of crazy terrorists flying passenger aircraft deliberately into buildings wasn't considered. We need to learn from experience. I dare say the biological shields of most nuclear reactors would be strong enough to remain intact, but you also need to consider the various pipes and cables going in and out etc.
By the way, the sodium isn't used as a moderator in a fast reactor. Fast reactors run on fast neutrons, so no moderation is required.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].