3 ms·
It's counterintuitive to me why the plants need to be so enormous, with the incredible amount of concrete and enclosure when there are nuclear subs running arou
by foobarian 9y ago
It's counterintuitive to me why the plants need to be so enormous, with the incredible amount of concrete and enclosure when there are nuclear subs running around at a tiny fraction of that size. (And yet with humans in even closer proximity than the nuclear power plant staff).
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoI wonder about this too. Perhaps there is some combination of regulations and economies of scale that push nuclear power build projects in this direction. I'd be interested to know why we don't see more smaller reactors, or fewer even bigger ones.
- bsder 9y ago> there are nuclear subs running around at a tiny fraction of that size. That never have to make a profit. And that's the key. The US Navy is INSANE about keeping the reactors properly tuned and serviced. The number of staff they throw at assembling, servicing, and decommissioning their nuclear vessels is astounding.
- adrianN 9y agoI would guess that one of the hardest parts of building a nuclear reactor is compliance with all relevant regulations. That effort probably doesn't scale linearly with reactor size, so building the biggest plant you can afford is the best investment.