3 ms·
> Not tenable since Fukushima and certainly not an explanation as to why the AP1000 is late everywhere. When I last checked why a nuclear plant in the UK was r
by belorn 5y ago
> Not tenable since Fukushima and certainly not an explanation as to why the AP1000 is late everywhere.
When I last checked why a nuclear plant in the UK was running late, the answer came back to be about Fukushima and nuclear regulations. Because of the earthquake, the design of the core was updated to require a kind of exotic steel that only get produced by a few companies in the world, and it took the company several attempts to produce it. This added significant delays and costs, as producing materials at the limit of human capability is both expensive and time consuming.
There is multiple possible target of blame here. The foundries in China. The lack of competition in that space. The design choice to use very exotic materials. The regulator reaction to Fukushima, or the panic to issue an very expensive quick fix for an existing design.
The economics of nuclear power is difficult to even estimate when stupidity like that occur with regularity.
- PaulHoule 5y agoRegulators reacted to Fukushima before the event everywhere except for Japan. That is, the early 1970s model of a serious nuclear accident was that the pressure vessel burst. Three Mile Island complicated matters by being neither serious nor generic. By 1990 it was clear the serious generic accident was a ‘station blackout’ — with no power at the station you can’t circulate water to keep the core. In the U.S. the NRC keeps spare generators ready to load on helicopters and transport to nuclear plants in an emergency. Had Fukushima had some spare generators staged away from the floods or simply more strongly fortified fuel tanks, ‘Fukushima’ would be an obscure word in most of the world. $1 million or so of investment in the right place would have spared a lot of trouble.
- hansthehorse 5y agoA PWR relies on natural circulation to maintain core cooling in a blackout. Reactor Coolant Pumps aren't even considered required emergency equipment and are not connected to emergency power supplies. In 25 years of commercial nuclear operations experience I've never heard of an NRC delivered emergency diesel generator. I would like to see the helicopter big enough to lift the typical EDG. I have no experience other than basic knowledge of a BWR.
- belorn 5y agoThe sad part is that nothing of that requires using exotic materials for the core that only a few foundries in china can make. A few spare generators and a emergency plans for blackout seems like pretty simple things.
- PaulHoule 5y agoThe reactor vessel for an LWR is made with a huge forging press. These exist in some European countries as well as China, Japan and others but have been all shut down in the U.S.