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> we know how to build and operate them at 95%+ efficiency. Fission can provide all the power we need. I am not sure what do you mean by 95%+ efficency here. B
by elashri 2y ago
> we know how to build and operate them at 95%+ efficiency. Fission can provide all the power we need.
I am not sure what do you mean by 95%+ efficency here. But if you are talking about the entire process of getting the energy/power from the nuclear reactor this is not possible. You are still limited by carnot cycle. Even the most advanced reactors like HTGRs [1] operate with efficiency about 45%.
If you have some other definition of efficiency than the standard then it would be good if you define that.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_gas-cooled_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_gas-cooled_re...
- atomic128 2y agoSee discussion of "capacity factor" here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41858892 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41858892 It's the same as when we talk about the efficiency of a GEMM kernel on a particular piece of hardware. As efficiency approaches 100% the kernel is saturating the hardware's capacity to perform multiply/add.
- howenterprisey 2y agoThe term "capacity factor" should generally always be used for that concept, because "efficiency" has its own, different, meaning for power plants.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]