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> nuclear backup That wouldn't work with current nuclear reactors, whose startup / shutdown sequences take hours. Typically, the grid operator runs nuclear pl

> nuclear backup That wouldn't work with current nuclear reactors, whose startup / shutdown sequences take hours. Typically, the grid operator runs nuclear plants at nearly 100% 24/7 (so called "baseload") due to this. I'd be curious how truck-sized reactors work and whether or not you could operate them as load-followers rather than baseload. That would make them extremely attractive for replacing natural gas peakers, especially as more wind / solar get onto the grid.

DennisP 11y ago
My point mainly is that if there's more demand when solar produces more energy, then you can pretty much run the nuclear plants all the time and get a decent balance. But I suspect the small reactors will be more flexible. Molten salt reactors are supposed to load-follow automatically with a lag of thirty seconds or so. (And of course with small fusion reactors it wouldn't be a problem at all.)
- nosuchthing 11y ago
  Solar generation is less predictable, and the grid needs an energy source that is capable of quickly adjusting to the current fluctuation in demand of consumers.
  - beat 11y ago
    That's where the batteries come in. To continue the software metaphors, batteries provide caching, and the cache is tunable for cost and performance. This wasn't viable a decade ago, but with the advances in solar/wind cost/performance, and the advances in battery cost/performance, it's really becoming a powerful option.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- jddw 11y ago
  You're right. It is also a common misconception that nuclear reactors cannot load follow, they can: http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2013/02/14/responding-to-system-demand/ http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2013/02/14/responding-to-system-de... One of the main limitations is the stress it puts on the fuel. Many advanced reactors overcome these limits, and if financially incentivized, they will definitely load follow. On top of that, the UPower reactor has a thermal transport time constant nearly 10 times that of other reactors, and its fuel is immune to the shocks that bother LWRs. In fact, the same type of fuel was used in a research reactor and would be ramped in power from 5 watts to 150 billion watts in less than 50 millionths of a second. That puts a lot of stress on fuel, yet this fuel kept its stride without breaking a sweat. This reactor is built like a tank, and is designed to be quite resilient and flexible. It can definitely load follow to support a renewable heavy grid system. In fact it's been considered for use as a grid stabilizer at substations because of these abilities.
  - DennisP 11y ago
    What kind of fuel and coolant does it use? Googling only turns up a couple fairly uninformative articles.

DennisP 11y ago

My point mainly is that if there's more demand when solar produces more energy, then you can pretty much run the nuclear plants all the time and get a decent balance. But I suspect the small reactors will be more flexible. Molten salt reactors are supposed to load-follow automatically with a lag of thirty seconds or so. (And of course with small fusion reactors it wouldn't be a problem at all.)

nosuchthing 11y ago
Solar generation is less predictable, and the grid needs an energy source that is capable of quickly adjusting to the current fluctuation in demand of consumers.
- beat 11y ago
  That's where the batteries come in. To continue the software metaphors, batteries provide caching, and the cache is tunable for cost and performance. This wasn't viable a decade ago, but with the advances in solar/wind cost/performance, and the advances in battery cost/performance, it's really becoming a powerful option.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
jddw 11y ago
You're right. It is also a common misconception that nuclear reactors cannot load follow, they can: http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2013/02/14/responding-to-system-demand/ http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2013/02/14/responding-to-system-de... One of the main limitations is the stress it puts on the fuel. Many advanced reactors overcome these limits, and if financially incentivized, they will definitely load follow. On top of that, the UPower reactor has a thermal transport time constant nearly 10 times that of other reactors, and its fuel is immune to the shocks that bother LWRs. In fact, the same type of fuel was used in a research reactor and would be ramped in power from 5 watts to 150 billion watts in less than 50 millionths of a second. That puts a lot of stress on fuel, yet this fuel kept its stride without breaking a sweat. This reactor is built like a tank, and is designed to be quite resilient and flexible. It can definitely load follow to support a renewable heavy grid system. In fact it's been considered for use as a grid stabilizer at substations because of these abilities.
- DennisP 11y ago
  What kind of fuel and coolant does it use? Googling only turns up a couple fairly uninformative articles.