3 ms·
To me any technological projection that goes beyond 200 years is a bit of non-sense. 200 years ago trains did not exist. Steam power existed, but just in a tiny
by credit_guy 4y ago
To me any technological projection that goes beyond 200 years is a bit of non-sense. 200 years ago trains did not exist. Steam power existed, but just in a tiny corner of the world economy.
If we don't run out of nuclear fuel in 200 years, then we'll never do.
And we certainly have enough uranium to not run out of it for 200 years, with the current technology. No breeder reactors, or anything fancy needed.
CANDU reactors run on unenriched uranium [1]. This instantly gives a multiplier of 10. If the current reactors can run for a few decades, then switching to CANDU reactors we'd have fuel for a few centuries.
Why aren't we switching to CANDU design? Some new builds are projected [2], but overall they appear to be too capital intensive, compared to the more traditional light water reactors. Still if fuel availability were a concern, we'd switch to CANDU reactors and stop having any scarcity for hundreds of years.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor
[2] https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Romania-adopts-draft-law-on-Cernavoda-3-and-4 https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Romania-adopts-d...
- acidburnNSA 4y agoCANDUs run on natural uranium but get about 1/10th as much energy out of each kg of fuel than a LWR. So it's much more of a wash. Not a factor of 10. Check the average discharge burnup.
- Schroedingersat 4y agoAll current nuclear reactors run on U235 or the barely significant dregs of Pu239 left over. They do varying amounts of breeding to produce up to 50% of their energy from Pu, but the fuel source is always U235. Leaving more U238 with it in a HWR doesn't change this. > And we certainly have enough uranium to not run out of it for 200 years, with the current technology At the current (insignificant) portion of final energy they produce. Increase it 10x for just the current electrical grid and it's <20 years. Switch to SMRs which are inefficient and it's <10. If you want people to take nuclear seriously, try telling the truth about anything at all at least once, ever.
- credit_guy 4y ago> try telling the truth about anything at all at least once, ever. I'm not sure HN is the place for this type of language.
- Schroedingersat 4y agoIt's not the place for an unending torrent of fake pro nuclear lies designed to try and keep coal relevant either, but here we are.