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> A dual Natrium reactor site can provide 690 MW of reliable 24/7 365 power Given that they haven’t actually built one, asserting the performance seems inappr
by Octoth0rpe 3mo ago
> A dual Natrium reactor site can provide 690 MW of reliable 24/7 365 power
Given that they haven’t actually built one, asserting the performance seems inappropriate, _especially_ the uptime which IIRC is far, far higher than is typical for proven designs, let alone a new one.
- christina97 3mo agoWell operated, mature nuclear power plants can easily achieve 90%+ uptime. I don’t think this is a huge issue.
- testing22321 3mo agoIs 90% equal to 24x7, 365?
- sandworm101 3mo agoYes. The refueling takes the most time but that is planned years in advance. A one-year planned outage every decade can still be 24/7/365 in the other nine years.
- p1mrx 3mo agoNatrium is expected to spend around 1 month refueling every 24 months.
- sandworm101 3mo agoSo that is say 5% downtime. Add in time for upgrades and refurbishments, and refueling periods alone are bang on the 10% downtime number.
- bronson 3mo agoAh yes, the ol' GitHub method of reporting. "When we're up, we have lots of nines!"
- sandworm101 3mo agoWhich is why people who run websites shouldnt be allowed anywhere near powerplants.
- veverkap 3mo agoUnless they hire Homer Simpson.....
- nine_k 3mo agoIn fact, the uptime of US nuclear power plants was above 90% for the last decade. And even if a reactor goes offline, a power plant usually operates 2 to 4 reactors, so the entire plant continues operating.
- thinkcontext 3mo agoThis is a brand new type, there's no way that equivalent operation to a decades old design with centuries of operational experience can be assumed. Presumably its been designed for high uptime but it would not be unusual for new technology like this to require some refinement.