First nuclear reactor coming online in the U.S. in 7 years

#26
#26
Weezy said:
You mean the ones that went $16B over budget and will be the first and last of their kind in their country of design? The ones that took a miracle and the pressures of sunk costs to finish? Ya, we might get some one off builds. But it is effectively dead.

I'm a big nuclear technology advocate. I'd ask why the 70s designs that will be operated safely for at least 80 years can't be built out again. It's the only technology we have regressed on in that we can't do what we did 50 years ago. And it's because the West, fundamentally, can't do it anymore. Can't design it, can't build it, can't regulate it, can't politic it, can't finance it. It's effectively dead here. It will thrive in the East where those problems don't exist.
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Look at what happened at Hartsville. What happens when guvmint steps in. Should let private industry do it
 
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#27
#27
illumiVOLi said:
Look at what happened at Hartsville. What happens when guvmint steps in. Should let private industry do it
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If I'm Elon Musk, this is where I would focus my attention. With the push for EVs and the fight against fossil fuels, a massive increase in nuclear power generation is literally the only feasible option.
 
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#28
#28
kiddiedoc said:
If I'm Elon Musk, this is where I would focus my attention. With the push for EVs and the fight against fossil fuels, a massive increase in nuclear power generation is literally the only feasible option.
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Sadly I bet there is more fed regulation in nuclear power then space exploration
 
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#29
#29
volfanhill said:
Sadly I bet there is more fed regulation in nuclear power then space exploration
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So let him come up with a plan to spend like half of what the current norm is in building reactors while making them more efficient (like he did with rockets/space travel). Then the government has no choice.
 
#30
#30
I had a project at BFNP 20 years ago. It was so ridiculous that my file was the size of a NY phonebook. Woke up in my underwear and finished the day my underwear for many months. Sorry for the image! Except McDad.
 
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#31
#31
volfanhill said:
Sadly I bet there is more fed regulation in nuclear power then space exploration
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It's interesting the difference between the regulatory agencies. The FAA invests in research and has an active role in promoting the aviation industry, in addition to regulation. The NRC is strictly regulatory.
 
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#32
#32
I went down the rabbit hole of calculating how large a solar farm is required to generate the same energy as a single nuclear reactor tonight. Or, you could ask Chat GPT AI.
 
#33
#33
Weezy said:
You mean the ones that went $16B over budget and will be the first and last of their kind in their country of design? The ones that took a miracle and the pressures of sunk costs to finish? Ya, we might get some one off builds. But it is effectively dead.

I'm a big nuclear technology advocate. I'd ask why the 70s designs that will be operated safely for at least 80 years can't be built out again. It's the only technology we have regressed on in that we can't do what we did 50 years ago. And it's because the West, fundamentally, can't do it anymore. Can't design it, can't build it, can't regulate it, can't politic it, can't finance it. It's effectively dead here. It will thrive in the East where those problems don't exist.
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IMO, the future lies with small modular reactors.
 
#39
#39
For perspective on SMR, including existing nuclear, hydro and pumped storage, we would probably need like 11,000 MW of SMR, or like 25 (6 reactors) sites to stay at 1/3 of consumption, or 75 sites for self reliance (450 reactors)

"Those facilities have about 20,000 megawatts in combined generating capacity—more than 90% of the state's total"
 
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#42
#42
kiddiedoc said:
That's still not very high. I believe there are plants that can generate 1+ GW/y.
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As Orangeburst pointed out above, you can have 6 of them running at the same time. This means that they're scalable so if you need 1 GW + then you could just run 4 of them. Of course, there are many other benefits as well.

I do wonder what the max number of SMRs running at the same time would be (in the same area that is).
 
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#44
#44
Matt2496 said:
As Orangeburst pointed out above, you can have 6 of them running at the same time. Of course, there are many other benefits as well.

I do wonder what the max number of SMRs running at the same time would be (in the same area that is).
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Looks at that rendering on the link..I dont even see evaporative cooling towers. Looks like an office
 
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#45
#45
They're also a lot cheaper than conventional reactors because they're built in a factory. I'd bet that 4 SMRs would be much less expensive to build and maintain than 1 conventional PWR.
 
#48
#48
Matt2496 said:
IMO, the future lies with small modular reactors.
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Orangeburst said:
1st small modular nuclear reactor certified for use in US - East Idaho News
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If you string enough of the modular reactors together, the concept can make sense (licensing, site approval, etc); but it would take the maximum of 12 reactors (from NuScale literature) to equal one of the newer US nuclear units - a full up 12 module plant would equal one of the two reactors at Sequoyah or Watts Bar for example. There are some good features particularly the passive cooling concept, but the literature doesn't really give much info on the balance of plant. For example, you have to assume that the steam outputs are coupled to feed one turbine/generator. Another nice concept is the integrated once through steam generators - which would supposedly supply superheated steam to the turbine.

I don't know NuScale or where it really came from, but according to the literature BWXT will manufacture the first reactors. BWXT is a spinoff from Babcock and Wilcox - the company I originally worked for. I still consider B&W designs superior to Westinghouse, Combustion, and particularly GE. B&W has built a lot of naval reactors ... and Three Mile Island. I imagine the reactors will be manufactured in B&W facilities in Barberton near Cleveland, OH - the engineering and administrative staff seem to still be in Lynchburg, VA (but not the Old Forest Rd offices) and Charlotte.
 
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#49
#49
Orangeburst said:
For perspective on SMR, including existing nuclear, hydro and pumped storage, we would probably need like 11,000 MW of SMR, or like 25 (6 reactors) sites to stay at 1/3 of consumption, or 75 sites for self reliance (450 reactors)

"Those facilities have about 20,000 megawatts in combined generating capacity—more than 90% of the state's total"
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You have to be real careful with nuclear plant power ratings. A reactor with a 3500 MWt (thermal) rating) will produce nominally 1000 MWe (electric). Each of the Idaho Falls modular reactors will be rated at 250 MWt and 77 MWe - not much. That 30% efficiency is on par with other types of electric power generation; very much reason to consider whether it's better to burn fossil fuels directly for the application or to produce electricity ... or EVs aren't nearly as efficient as people like to think because they don't calculate all the way back to the energy source.
 
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#50
#50
Matt2496 said:
Interesting. I never really noticed that before. It looks like they don't need that 3rd loop of heat removal.
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They aren't showing balance of plant information. They are only showing a very simplified drawing of some of the nuclear steam supply. There has to be a condenser downstream of the turbine/generator, and the condenser has to have cooling from some source. That's where the evaporative cooling towers and rivers come into play.
 
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