3 ms·
What specifically is so expensive about the reactors? Having played the simulator[0] and now being an expert in running a nuclear power plant, the idea is "simp
by fbdab103 3y ago
What specifically is so expensive about the reactors? Having played the simulator[0] and now being an expert in running a nuclear power plant, the idea is "simple". Seemingly not much more complex than any other steam/heat power plant, so how do the costs run so high? Are the tolerances on everything turned to 11 to minimize chance of errors? Triple-checking all work?
As a point of comparison, the Large Hadron collider had a $9 billion budget, and that required a 27 kilometer circle to be dug.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38515435 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38515435
- mynameisnoone 3y agoI worked for a Campbell, CA nuclear engineering partial employee-owned co-op formed by mostly ex-General Electric engineers (Stanford and Berkeley alums) ultimately acquired by Curtiss-Wright Corp. (And yes, computers were named after Simpsons' characters.) Costs are related to the assurance of safety through careful documentation and processes beginning with regulation and insurance underwriting of design engineering, construction, operations, and maintenance. This sort of thing only makes sense to do so at large scale to make it economical. Scale also has its costs. Safety isn't something that can be Boeing'ed because the NRC can and will shut the whole thing down if it were to be found unsafe.