4 ms·

To be fair, watching THREE reactors explode would be horrifying to anyone, any government would have panicked. With that said, I think even this old PWR design

by donny2018 4y ago

To be fair, watching THREE reactors explode would be horrifying to anyone, any government would have panicked. With that said, I think even this old PWR design has actually proven itself to be extremely safe as it effectively prevented Chernobyl-style scenario during such rare and catastrophic event. I mean, 3 reactors literally exploded, 3 cores melted and… pretty much nothing happened. But it would be great to see new molten-salt fast reactor designs to gain traction, as they would be even safer, 95% more fuel efficient, not require water for cooling, and produce far less waste.

nier 4y ago
For the uninitiated as myself, here are excerpts from: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/MoltexFLEX-launches-flexibly-operated-molten-salt https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/MoltexFLEX-launc... “According to MoltexFLEX, the cost of electricity generated by the FLEX reactor is comparable to that of wind, at just GBP40 (USD44) per MWh. This is achieved through a unique, patented system which uses two molten salts: one acting as a fuel, whilst the other circulates as a coolant. This allows the heat from the reactor to be extracted through natural convection, without the need for pumps.” “Once online, the FLEX reactor can be operated with the same skills and equipment used in a fossil fuel plant. The reactor has no moving parts and is fuelled for 20 years at a time, meaning that there is very little operator input and very low ongoing costs.” “MoltexFLEX estimates it would take just 24 months to build a 500 MW power plant. The company plans to have its first reactor operational by 2029.” “The SSR-W is a molten salt reactor that uses nuclear waste as fuel. The company aims to deploy its first such reactor at the Point Lepreau site in New Brunswick by the early 2030s.”

nier 4y ago

For the uninitiated as myself, here are excerpts from: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/MoltexFLEX-launches-flexibly-operated-molten-salt https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/MoltexFLEX-launc... “According to MoltexFLEX, the cost of electricity generated by the FLEX reactor is comparable to that of wind, at just GBP40 (USD44) per MWh. This is achieved through a unique, patented system which uses two molten salts: one acting as a fuel, whilst the other circulates as a coolant. This allows the heat from the reactor to be extracted through natural convection, without the need for pumps.” “Once online, the FLEX reactor can be operated with the same skills and equipment used in a fossil fuel plant. The reactor has no moving parts and is fuelled for 20 years at a time, meaning that there is very little operator input and very low ongoing costs.” “MoltexFLEX estimates it would take just 24 months to build a 500 MW power plant. The company plans to have its first reactor operational by 2029.” “The SSR-W is a molten salt reactor that uses nuclear waste as fuel. The company aims to deploy its first such reactor at the Point Lepreau site in New Brunswick by the early 2030s.”