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Rolls Royce: Mini nuclear reactor vision backed by government and industry
- PaulHoule 7y agoLooking at the pictures, this seems to be a "small" LWR. LWRs have been dogged by construction difficulties, but even if the cost explosion could be contained, it's hard for the LWR to compete with gas turbine power plants because the power density of the steam turbine is so low. That's one reason why coal burning power plants are no longer economical: even with free heat, the turbine can't pay for itself against competition today. A truly small reactor would have to operate at higher temperatures and use a gas such as helium, CO2 or nitrogen tetroxide as a working fluid. A reactor like that has a chance of being economically competitive with fossil fuel gas turbines, but tied to a steam turbine I can't see a nuclear reactor ever being competitive.