2 ms·
Exactly this. Specifically you should read the findings of the MSRE (Molten Salt Reactor Experiment) at ORNL. Wikipedia has a relatively laymans explanation o
by jpgvm 11y ago
Exactly this.
Specifically you should read the findings of the MSRE (Molten Salt Reactor Experiment) at ORNL.
Wikipedia has a relatively laymans explanation of the state of the Hastelloy-N when the experiment concluded.[1]
It's worth mentioning Hastelloy-N isn't that expensive all things considered. It would probably come out to a small percentage of the reactors total cost factoring in R&D expenditure etc.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten-Salt_Reactor_Experiment#Results https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten-Salt_Reactor_Experiment...
- InclinedPlane 11y agoAdditionally, while using a lot of Hastelloy-N would be expensive, in the context of a full reactor it's a modest expense. Especially when you compare it against the extremely enormous forgings and gigantic reinforced concrete structures that traditional lightwater reactors use. Overall you end up with a much smaller and much safer reactor. And one that can burn existing high-level transuranic waste as well. It's such a huge win it's criminal we're not spending billions in R&D right now.
- neltnerb 11y agoWell, thanks for the citation. I'm now much more confused about why this is what I was told in class by an expert in the field. Maybe he meant specifically the difficulty of finding a steel up to the challenge, it was a decade ago so some fidelity may have been lost!