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> MSRs or LFTRs might be What I'm looking forward to is fast reactors. They can burn U238, and leave very little waste (transuranic elements). We would not nee

> MSRs or LFTRs might be What I'm looking forward to is fast reactors. They can burn U238, and leave very little waste (transuranic elements). We would not need to mine any new uranium, because we have huge stocks of depleted Uranium. Wikipedia has a list [1], and the top 2 countries, the US and Russia, have about half a million tons each, and France has about 200k more. Two such reactors are in the R&D stage in the US, the Natrium one by Terrapower, and the Molten Chloride Fast Reactor, by Terrapower+Southern Company [2]. Edit: Terrapower is more or less owned by Bill Gates. He's using his own money to advance nuclear reactor design. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium#Production_and_availability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium#Production_an... [2] https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/infographic-advanced-reactor-development https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/infographic-advanced-reac...

Schroedingersat 4y ago
Given how many billions of dollars that have been spent on similar ideas to no avail, and how filthy and expensive the french fuel reprocessing program is colour me sceptical. Additionally if the idea is good they should have no trouble finding a billionaire or three keen on grabbing a piece of the pie. I'm also sceptical that the existing countries with refinement capability will let anyone else have the ability to make high purity Pu239. On the other hand, they're only asking for a few tens of millions which is miniscule compared to the public funds going to much worse ideas. So why not? As long as they demonstrate the whole fuel cycle including waste separation and refuelling, and can get their own funding for construction of plants after POC then go for it. Ideally they'd be able to be financially solvent without Price-Anderson too (but with whatever REC or similar scheme that wind and solar get), but we can't have everything.

Schroedingersat 4y ago

Given how many billions of dollars that have been spent on similar ideas to no avail, and how filthy and expensive the french fuel reprocessing program is colour me sceptical. Additionally if the idea is good they should have no trouble finding a billionaire or three keen on grabbing a piece of the pie. I'm also sceptical that the existing countries with refinement capability will let anyone else have the ability to make high purity Pu239. On the other hand, they're only asking for a few tens of millions which is miniscule compared to the public funds going to much worse ideas. So why not? As long as they demonstrate the whole fuel cycle including waste separation and refuelling, and can get their own funding for construction of plants after POC then go for it. Ideally they'd be able to be financially solvent without Price-Anderson too (but with whatever REC or similar scheme that wind and solar get), but we can't have everything.