5 ms·
Does nuclear fission avoid the issue of meltdowns? Genuinely curious. The only downside I see to nuclear power is geopolitics/war (like we're seeing in Ukraine)
by hypeatei 2y ago
Does nuclear fission avoid the issue of meltdowns? Genuinely curious. The only downside I see to nuclear power is geopolitics/war (like we're seeing in Ukraine) so we don't cause even bigger catastrophes due to instability.
- fwip 2y agoNuclear fission is the reaction that has had meltdowns. There are fission technologies/strategies that are supposed to be meltdown-proof, but I do not know the science well enough to say whether that is true.
- Moldoteck 2y agothat's kinda true but not yet commercially deployed. The main idea is on overheat fuel expands and fission reaction is stopped/reduced due to higher distance
- asdf000333 2y agoMeltdowns are also not the only risk.
- petre 2y agoThere are designs which avoid meltdowns, yes. Because the fuel is already molten. Like FliBe. It has a safety plug which if melts, the fuel flows in a contained reservoir and solidifies. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLiBe https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLiBe
- ignoramous 2y ago> so we don't cause even bigger catastrophes due to instability That isn't the only worry. If the fuel is smuggled out... https://spectrum.ieee.org/high-assay-low-enriched-uranium https://spectrum.ieee.org/high-assay-low-enriched-uranium
- bigfudge 2y agoDid you mean to say fusion? In which case yes.
- loeg 2y ago3rd and 4th gen fission reactor designs have many safeguards against meltdown, yes.
- Moldoteck 2y agoap1000 would have withstanded fukushima. And plants are designed to withstand an impact with an airplane. So all in all, yes, pretty safe. Gen4 will be even better especially with fuel dilation designs