4 ms·

Cheaper at scale in the long run too. Short of some unforeseen breakthroughs in non-typical nuclear like thorium.

DennisP 9y ago
It wouldn't be that unforeseen, there are a bunch of companies working on molten salt reactors and there don't appear to be any showstoppers. The main issue is getting regulators to wrap their heads around it, but Terrestrial Energy in Canada got through the first stage of regulatory approval last year [1], and ThorCon appears to be making good progress with Indonesia [2]. Moltex is pursuing licensing in Canada as well [3], and thinks it could have its first reactor online as early as 2026 [4]. Terrapower has been awarded $40M from the DOE for their work on a molten chloride fast reactor [5]. [1] https://www.terrestrialenergy.com/2017/11/terrestrial-energy-imsr-first-commercial-advanced-reactor-assessed-regulator/ https://www.terrestrialenergy.com/2017/11/terrestrial-energy... [2] https://medium.com/@bobsoef/indonesia-is-preparing-to-go-nuclear-e71c22f0b403 https://medium.com/@bobsoef/indonesia-is-preparing-to-go-nuc... [3] http://moltexenergy.com/news/details.aspx?positionId=85 http://moltexenergy.com/news/details.aspx?positionId=85 [4] http://moltexenergy.com/files/cms/7_Moltex_Energy_Press_Release_Deloitte%20(14.07.2017).docx.pdf http://moltexenergy.com/files/cms/7_Moltex_Energy_Press_Rele... [5] http://terrapower.com/technologies/mcfr http://terrapower.com/technologies/mcfr
- 3pt14159 9y ago
  I'm for guarded optimism here. The reality is that getting regulators to wrap their heads around it is a real cost. The public doesn't trust nuclear and these smaller ones don't produce medical isotopes, so regulators can't even fall back on saying grandma needs it. When the public says "why not solar?" the government should have a good answer. It makes sense in Canada (history of safe nuclear, large population base with knowledge in engineering, etc) but it doesn't make sense in Saudi Arabia short of nuclear arms capability.
  - DennisP 9y ago
    Regulation is a serious barrier in the U.S. but Canada is a lot more rational about new technologies. Simple answer to "why not solar" is that we need power at night, and it's not clear that storage at large scale would be cost-competitive with molten salt reactors. (I think nuclear baseload with solar for extra daytime load makes a lot of sense, though.) I once described molten salt reactors to a very anti-nuclear activist in the Green Party, and he said "hmm...that actually sounds pretty good."

It wouldn't be that unforeseen, there are a bunch of companies working on molten salt reactors and there don't appear to be any showstoppers. The main issue is getting regulators to wrap their heads around it, but Terrestrial Energy in Canada got through the first stage of regulatory approval last year [1], and ThorCon appears to be making good progress with Indonesia [2]. Moltex is pursuing licensing in Canada as well [3], and thinks it could have its first reactor online as early as 2026 [4]. Terrapower has been awarded $40M from the DOE for their work on a molten chloride fast reactor [5]. [1] https://www.terrestrialenergy.com/2017/11/terrestrial-energy-imsr-first-commercial-advanced-reactor-assessed-regulator/ https://www.terrestrialenergy.com/2017/11/terrestrial-energy... [2] https://medium.com/@bobsoef/indonesia-is-preparing-to-go-nuclear-e71c22f0b403 https://medium.com/@bobsoef/indonesia-is-preparing-to-go-nuc... [3] http://moltexenergy.com/news/details.aspx?positionId=85 http://moltexenergy.com/news/details.aspx?positionId=85 [4] http://moltexenergy.com/files/cms/7_Moltex_Energy_Press_Release_Deloitte%20(14.07.2017).docx.pdf http://moltexenergy.com/files/cms/7_Moltex_Energy_Press_Rele... [5] http://terrapower.com/technologies/mcfr http://terrapower.com/technologies/mcfr

3pt14159 9y ago
I'm for guarded optimism here. The reality is that getting regulators to wrap their heads around it is a real cost. The public doesn't trust nuclear and these smaller ones don't produce medical isotopes, so regulators can't even fall back on saying grandma needs it. When the public says "why not solar?" the government should have a good answer. It makes sense in Canada (history of safe nuclear, large population base with knowledge in engineering, etc) but it doesn't make sense in Saudi Arabia short of nuclear arms capability.
- DennisP 9y ago
  Regulation is a serious barrier in the U.S. but Canada is a lot more rational about new technologies. Simple answer to "why not solar" is that we need power at night, and it's not clear that storage at large scale would be cost-competitive with molten salt reactors. (I think nuclear baseload with solar for extra daytime load makes a lot of sense, though.) I once described molten salt reactors to a very anti-nuclear activist in the Green Party, and he said "hmm...that actually sounds pretty good."