4 ms·

We need a spent fission rod party, which when I write it down reads like "fishing rod" which could cause a lot of confusion later. In any case, spent uranium,

We need a spent fission rod party, which when I write it down reads like "fishing rod" which could cause a lot of confusion later. In any case, spent uranium, solar and wind is the way forward regardless.

cma 5y ago
That joined in too, a reactor had an unplanned shut down as well during the storm.
shagie 5y ago
The nuclear power plant shut down because its water supply froze and the pumps to cool the reactor shut down. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-and-why-a-nuclear-reactor-shut-down-in-texas-cold-snap-when-energy-was-needed-most https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-and-why... > “It’s very rare for weather issues to shut down a nuclear plant," said Brett Rampal, director of nuclear innovation at the Clean Air Task Force. "Some equipment in some nuclear plants in Texas has not been hardened for extreme cold weather because there was never a need for this.” > According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the shutdown of the nuclear reactor was caused by a disruption in a feedwater pump to the reactor, and that caused the plant to trip automatically and shut down early Monday. https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/021821-texas-nuclear-unit-returns-to-service-after-outage-related-to-cold-weather https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-ne... > Rowland said Feb. 16 the unit shut "due to cold weather-related issues in the plant's feedwater system." Weather conditions did not impact the 1,312-MW South Texas Project-2, which operated at 100% early Feb. 15-18, according to NRC. > Rowland said the unit shut at 5:37 am CT Feb. 15. STPNOC said in an event report filed with NRC that the unit tripped at 5:26 am due to low steam generator levels. "The low steam generator levels were due to loss of Feedwater pumps 11 and 13," according to the report.
- cbmuser 5y ago
  As far as I know, it was a malfunctioning sensor. I generally that it’s a poor design decision to build the steam engines on the outside with no weather protection.
- gameswithgo 5y ago
  Yes we in texas understand that basically ALL of our energy production methods were hampered by the cold (not our solar panels tho!), because none of them were prepped for cold. Which in some cases makes sense, in others it does not because it would have been cheap to do, up front.
- ericbarrett 5y ago
  How long does it take a pressurized water reactor to start up again? Is there some kind of "idle neutron balance" they can use when coolant flow is interrupted, or do they have to shut down the pile?
  - shagie 5y ago
    From https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=45956 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=45956 > About 25% of U.S. power plants can start up—going from being shut down to fully operating—within one hour, based on data collected in EIA’s annual survey of electric generators. Some power plants, especially those powered by coal and nuclear fuel, require more than half a day to reach full operations. The time it takes a power plant to reach full operations can affect the reliability and operations of the electric grid. https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/7394/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-restart-a-nuclear-power-plant https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/7394/why-doe... goes into it a bit more.
  - mnw21cam 5y ago
    It's complicated. Nuclear fission generates a load of by-products, and some of those are known as fission "poisons", mainly Iodine-135 decays to Xenon-135, which very easily absorbs neutrons and inhibits fission. During normal operation, there are plenty of neutrons flying around, so there are enough for some to be absorbed by Xenon-135, and the rest to continue the fission reaction. However, when the power output is reduced, the Xenon-135 can inhibit the nuclear reaction. This can make it less safe to restart the reactor, because the operator would need to increase the reactivity of the system - if they increase it enough to overcome the inhibition caused by the Xenon-135, then the increased nuclear activity can burn off the Xenon-135, and then you have excessive reactivity and the reactor could go out of control. For that reason, when a reactor is shut down, you typically need to wait several hours for the Xenon-135 to decay by itself - this is called the "Xenon dead time". Failure to do this was partially the cause of the Chernobyl disaster.
- headmelted 5y ago
  That’s why you use spent rods in a TWR. Which obviously needs built first but the science is sound.

cma 5y ago

That joined in too, a reactor had an unplanned shut down as well during the storm.

shagie 5y ago

The nuclear power plant shut down because its water supply froze and the pumps to cool the reactor shut down. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-and-why-a-nuclear-reactor-shut-down-in-texas-cold-snap-when-energy-was-needed-most https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-and-why... > “It’s very rare for weather issues to shut down a nuclear plant," said Brett Rampal, director of nuclear innovation at the Clean Air Task Force. "Some equipment in some nuclear plants in Texas has not been hardened for extreme cold weather because there was never a need for this.” > According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the shutdown of the nuclear reactor was caused by a disruption in a feedwater pump to the reactor, and that caused the plant to trip automatically and shut down early Monday. https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/021821-texas-nuclear-unit-returns-to-service-after-outage-related-to-cold-weather https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-ne... > Rowland said Feb. 16 the unit shut "due to cold weather-related issues in the plant's feedwater system." Weather conditions did not impact the 1,312-MW South Texas Project-2, which operated at 100% early Feb. 15-18, according to NRC. > Rowland said the unit shut at 5:37 am CT Feb. 15. STPNOC said in an event report filed with NRC that the unit tripped at 5:26 am due to low steam generator levels. "The low steam generator levels were due to loss of Feedwater pumps 11 and 13," according to the report.

cbmuser 5y ago
As far as I know, it was a malfunctioning sensor. I generally that it’s a poor design decision to build the steam engines on the outside with no weather protection.
gameswithgo 5y ago
Yes we in texas understand that basically ALL of our energy production methods were hampered by the cold (not our solar panels tho!), because none of them were prepped for cold. Which in some cases makes sense, in others it does not because it would have been cheap to do, up front.
ericbarrett 5y ago
How long does it take a pressurized water reactor to start up again? Is there some kind of "idle neutron balance" they can use when coolant flow is interrupted, or do they have to shut down the pile?
- shagie 5y ago
  From https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=45956 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=45956 > About 25% of U.S. power plants can start up—going from being shut down to fully operating—within one hour, based on data collected in EIA’s annual survey of electric generators. Some power plants, especially those powered by coal and nuclear fuel, require more than half a day to reach full operations. The time it takes a power plant to reach full operations can affect the reliability and operations of the electric grid. https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/7394/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-restart-a-nuclear-power-plant https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/7394/why-doe... goes into it a bit more.
- mnw21cam 5y ago
  It's complicated. Nuclear fission generates a load of by-products, and some of those are known as fission "poisons", mainly Iodine-135 decays to Xenon-135, which very easily absorbs neutrons and inhibits fission. During normal operation, there are plenty of neutrons flying around, so there are enough for some to be absorbed by Xenon-135, and the rest to continue the fission reaction. However, when the power output is reduced, the Xenon-135 can inhibit the nuclear reaction. This can make it less safe to restart the reactor, because the operator would need to increase the reactivity of the system - if they increase it enough to overcome the inhibition caused by the Xenon-135, then the increased nuclear activity can burn off the Xenon-135, and then you have excessive reactivity and the reactor could go out of control. For that reason, when a reactor is shut down, you typically need to wait several hours for the Xenon-135 to decay by itself - this is called the "Xenon dead time". Failure to do this was partially the cause of the Chernobyl disaster.
headmelted 5y ago
That’s why you use spent rods in a TWR. Which obviously needs built first but the science is sound.