Post ATA2iI8FSJBizY5z96 by buermann@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by buermann@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AT95dtWX71BgDU5cQ4 by mpjgregoire@mamot.fr
2023-02-28T11:18:23Z
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There was a good comment about the status of #SmallModularReactors for #NuclearEnergy at #MarginalRevolution yesterday: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/02/monday-assorted-links-395.html?commentID=160572663E.g., "The TRISO Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) is also the basis of several Micro Reactor designs with solid graphite moderated cores. The mobile shipping container Xe-mobile and Westinghouse eVinci are of this type while stationary campus-scale co-generation plants are the primary use case for the Ultra Safe Nuclear Micro Modular Reactor (USNC MMR)."
(DIR) Post #AT95du86rJFG61fczQ by mpjgregoire@mamot.fr
2023-02-28T11:20:07Z
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"Canada also has two First-of-a-Kind molten salt cooled reactors, the ARC-100 and Moltex SSR-W, planned at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station in New Brunswick. The Canadian angle in this narrative is interesting as Canada's nuclear regulatory is an important factor."#NuclearEnergy #PointLepreau #NewBrunswick #CanPol
(DIR) Post #AT95dunwLmhoBlF2Bs by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T17:49:19Z
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@mpjgregoire The Canadian regulatory environment, in principle at least, is considerably superior to the US one.USNRC is horribly prescriptive. In effect it says "you must do this and this and this, even if it's totally irrelevant to your design and has no safety impact, and we won't even consider that or that or that, even if they're key safety elements".CNSC says "show us why you think your design is safe, and we'll try to poke holes in your argument."
(DIR) Post #AT9E1kVZ5CVcq2WSC8 by mpjgregoire@mamot.fr
2023-02-28T18:24:43Z
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It's always good to learn your opinion on nuclear matters, @publius .Tell me, the #CANDU type reactors with heavy water as a moderator, is there still a future for that sort of technology? As far as I can see, none of the SMRs work that way.#SMR #NuclearEnergy
(DIR) Post #AT9EQriVPz0ER3YH20 by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T19:27:49Z
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@mpjgregoire Frankly, in order to expand global nuclear energy rapidly, the CANDU type of pressure-tube heavy-water reactor is a key technology.For one thing, supplying global megacities requires LARGE powerplants, and that's where CANDU excels. Bruce, which until a couple of years ago generated more power than all the nuclear plants in India put together, is a great example. SMRs have an important role to play, but building terawatts of generation 80 MW at a time?
(DIR) Post #AT9EjJzl1EXzLqQCkS by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T19:31:08Z
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@mpjgregoire Many of the SMRs now being proposed are just small LWRs, a well-established technology, but that's the best thing that can be said about it.There are few shops in the world that can fabricate even a small LWR pressure vessel, and the process requires two to three years (three to five for large vessels). You can't rush that kind of metallurgy.On the other hand, the pressure-holding element in CANDU is basically a pipe.(continued)
(DIR) Post #AT9EtTCxcVqiowR89g by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T19:32:59Z
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@mpjgregoire There are far more shops that can manufacture that kind of tubing to the required level of quality. The equipment and processes are far less specialized, and can be expanded much faster if need be.Then there's the fuel supply. CANDU would be a great option for the next generation of French nuclear power, because it can get twice as much energy out of each kilogram of recycled uranium from spent LWR fuel. In its basic configuration, it uses unenriched uranium.(continued)
(DIR) Post #AT9FERjsHGcALTplwW by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T19:36:46Z
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@mpjgregoire Using thorium is also quite easy, and done routinely (although on a limited scale) in India. U-Pu MOX can also be deployed if desired.Most of the SMRs being proposed, however, require uranium enriched to 5% or even 10% ²³⁵U, which is in consequence of their small size. There's some excess enrichment capacity in the world today, but that could be very easily eaten up. Also a lot of it is in Russia. And they're not neutron-efficient, so they require more uranium ore per kWh.
(DIR) Post #AT9Fb4cGPhAHIA40Mi by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T19:40:52Z
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@mpjgregoire IN SHORT :A small heavy-water reactor doesn't make much sense. It costs more than a light-water reactor, but you still have to supply enriched fuel.There's a whole different suite of designs that are more reasonable to deploy at ~80 MW scale (the size of the biggest marine Diesels, and in my opinion the "sweet spot" for small power reactors). Some of the SMR designs now being promoted reflect that, while others are just "bandwagoning" on a buzzword to get support.
(DIR) Post #AT9R2dHoiXgE8NqMkq by wolf@mastodon.egroc.de
2023-02-28T20:21:26Z
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@publius @mpjgregoire argggg where do you keep the water for the next 10.000 years??? Or say, the next 100 - 200...
(DIR) Post #AT9RT1H09p6u3c2ocK by wolf@mastodon.egroc.de
2023-02-28T20:25:29Z
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@publius @mpjgregoire or renewables...
(DIR) Post #AT9ZwbcetESsp8nERc by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T23:28:51Z
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@wolf @mpjgregoire I'm sorry, "the water"?What in the world are you talking about?If you're thinking of "heavy water" as some kind of hazardous waste, that's just plain wrong. It's separated from ordinary water by an expensive process. If you wanted to dispose of it, you'd just dilute it again, and nobody could tell you had ever separated it.Heavy water used in CANDU reactors picks up the radioactive hydrogen isotope tritium (ubiquitous in nature), which is sold at a profit to industry.
(DIR) Post #AT9b4LvHFEbSP2l9mq by mpjgregoire@mamot.fr
2023-02-28T21:19:07Z
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@wolf There's nothing wrong with renewables, but #NuclearEnergy is quite safe and doesn't emit GHGs. The biggest question is whether it is economic compared with other sources of energy that don't cause #ClimateChange . Here in #Québec, the answer is mostly no, since we have lots of hydroelectricity. Elsewhere it depends.@publius
(DIR) Post #AT9b4MP3SWQFtOgwCW by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T23:41:27Z
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@mpjgregoire @wolf Quebec has adequate hydropower now, but that could change quickly, for instance by the rapid uptake of battery-electric cars, or electric heat pumps.There aren't a lot of available damsites left, and they tend to be remote and expensive to exploit.As for economics, the Quebec government spent a couple of billion dollars to refurbish the Gentilly nuclear plant, to operate for another 20-30 years, and then decided to close it down instead. What sense does that make?
(DIR) Post #AT9bMir4ip12jqYNs0 by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-02-28T23:44:47Z
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@mpjgregoire @wolf What really annoys me, in all honesty, is that Gentilly (formally Gentilly unit 2 ― unit 1 was an experimental plant, cooled by boiling light water, that didn't perform well in initial testing and was abandoned) was close enough to Montreal to supply heat via pressurized hot water pipeline. That was an opportunity to save huge quantities of gas and heating oil, as well as money, and improve winter air quality into the bargain.
(DIR) Post #AT9drks9TH9vseyy1o by wolf@mastodon.egroc.de
2023-02-28T22:01:25Z
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@mpjgregoire @publius well, safe... Risk is the product of probability times impact. But if you can't stand the impact, don't even think about probability. Besides that - no possibility to get rid of the most toxic waste, dependency on Russia for fuel - again... There are days during the year that all of Germany - not exactly in the middle of Sahara - is producing more with renewables than it consumes. And France has to import, because they are not able to cool the reactors...
(DIR) Post #AT9drlUn9c4FoV3pFw by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-01T00:12:47Z
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@wolf @mpjgregoire The extraordinarily severe nuclear reactor accident which happened at Pickering, near Toronto, in August of 1983 ― the rupture of the primary pressure boundary of the reactor while operating under full load ― was resolved without any radioactive releases to the environment or radiation exposures to personnel beyond those of ordinary operation, and without invoking the emergency safety systems.The reactor was subsequently repaired and returned to service.
(DIR) Post #AT9eGLe2P6zusV6jFg by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-01T00:17:15Z
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@wolf @mpjgregoire You do yourself no favour by repeating things which are commonly said in Germany but mean little.What in the world does it matter that solar panels in Germany occasionally produce more electricity than the country uses ― during the period of the year when energy demand is least? You cannot store it for six months! Electricity is no more than 30% of German energy demand anyway, and already problems with cost and security of supply are driving industry out of the country.
(DIR) Post #ATA2iI8FSJBizY5z96 by buermann@mastodon.social
2023-03-01T04:51:11Z
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@publius @wolf @mpjgregoire Hydro and other forms of gravity storage can and do store it for six months or longer. You can complain about their upfront costs but as more or less permanent infrastructure their returns less the amortized maintenance costs are pure profit in any imaginable range of net-zero futures.
(DIR) Post #ATAAA6yhDdm6BYqA0u by wolf@mastodon.egroc.de
2023-03-01T06:14:37Z
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@publius @mpjgregoire interesting to hear that the industry is leaving ;-) which security issues do you mean? Didn't have any outage in 30+ years... I can store electricity as long as I like, lakes etc. And again: Harrisburg, Tschernobyl, Fukushima... This is the range of impact were talking about - global scale. Finally: find a place in earth that welcomes the waste...
(DIR) Post #ATDgB3lSwkk1c45JL6 by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-02T22:57:31Z
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@buermann @wolf @mpjgregoire Pumped hydro is great, if you have the geography for it, but work out for yourself what it would take to store 10% of annual electricity demand. Never mind that evaporation means that multi-month storage doesn't actually work out that well.And remember, dams actually DO kill tens or hundreds of thousands of people at a time when they fail ― unlike nuclear power stations. It happened TWICE in the 1970s, once in China (River Ru), once in India (Machchu).
(DIR) Post #ATDgPVJRJwi76bra3E by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-02T23:00:08Z
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@wolf @mpjgregoire Three Mile Island, where NOT ONE PERSON was harmed by radioactive releases from the stricken reactor?And 20 000 people died in the 2011 East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, but NOT ONE PERSON has been harmed (according to authoritative estimates of international scientific bodies) by the radioactive releases from the damaged reactors.What was your point again?Oh, that's right, you didn't have one. Like all anti-nuclear arguments, it comes down to innuendo and nonsense.
(DIR) Post #ATDgcmnLdIe95hBaQi by wesrolley@sfba.social
2023-02-28T22:48:29Z
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@mpjgregoire @wolf @publius Those who deem nuclear to be safe may only think of what happens at the reactor site. When you consider the entire process including mining and transportation, the safety disappears. I have read studies showing uranium acting as an estrogen mimic in the body.
(DIR) Post #ATDgcqPkB08sJeAnC4 by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-02T23:02:31Z
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@wesrolley @mpjgregoire @wolf Firstly, the uranium already above ground (enrichment tails, spent fuel, and so on), when used in breeder reactors, will yield as much energy as all the fossil fuels that can ever be extracted.Think of that for a moment.A truck full of uranium ore concentrate contains as much energy (if the U is used inefficiently in LWRs) as a supertanker full of oil. If it overturns? The environmental consequences are practically nil. You sweep it up and go on.
(DIR) Post #ATDgyyXedfgjtUQU0O by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-02T23:06:33Z
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@wesrolley @mpjgregoire @wolf Transporting coal, again, kills people all the time. Coal trains rumble by my house (within a kilometer or two) every single day, because a 1000 MW plant needs a hundred-car string of hundred-tonne cars every single day.A nuclear plant can get by with one railcar load of fuel, or less, a month.And that's not to speak of the incredible damage done by coal mining. Just look at the vast pits and spoil heaps in Germany.
(DIR) Post #ATELEax46ugVWwJZFA by wolf@mastodon.egroc.de
2023-03-03T06:37:33Z
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@publius @buermann @mpjgregoire you actually do not need to store 10% annual. 50% week would be enough. This means don't need large dams.. anyway, of you promise to keep your waste in Canada, you'll suffer first, and I'll be gone by then hopefully ;-)
(DIR) Post #ATELjoS9xiIgNikDr6 by wolf@mastodon.egroc.de
2023-03-03T06:43:13Z
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@publius @wesrolley @mpjgregoire who's talking about coal. Water, sun and wind. That's all you need. And yes, sometimes doesn't look nice, has its own drawbacks, but it's controllable, which is not true for nuclear. Having majored in physics and done risk management quiet some time I tell myself I know about what I talk.
(DIR) Post #ATJiVJfj2e2Uj996um by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-05T20:51:53Z
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@wolf @wesrolley @mpjgregoire If you're against fission energy, you're in favour of coal energy. That's not just my judgement. It's not just the reality of Germany prolonging the operation of coal burners, restarting allegedly shut-down ones, opening new pits. It's also the political fact.If you have a background in physics, you ought to know just how fraudulent the "100% wind-water-sun" claims are, and just how meaningless the claim that "fission is uncontrollable" is.
(DIR) Post #ATJitjuz6vpz4tvftY by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-05T20:56:18Z
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@wolf @buermann @mpjgregoire If you want to run an entire country off solar, you need storage for about 30% of annual consumption if you're not right on the equator. You can verify that for yourself. It's not difficult! Wind helps a little, but has a habit of disappearing suddenly for weeks.The resulting problem is colossal, comparable to bridiging the Atlantic. Not technically insuperable, but you will beggar your country trying, and nobody will want to imitate you.
(DIR) Post #ATJj5leSUXsVvfw0hs by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-05T20:58:28Z
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@wolf @buermann @mpjgregoire "But what about the waste?" is an argument which is always made in bad faith. Fossil-fuel wastes in the billions of tonnes are dumped directly into the biosphere, because there is little else one can do with such large arisings.The people who say "the waste problem is unsolved" always object to the implementation of the known, established, safe and effective way of handling nuclear fuel wastes, which was demonstrated before civil atomic power started.(cont'd)
(DIR) Post #ATJjN09vo1dlqYsE2S by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-03-05T21:01:35Z
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@wolf @buermann @mpjgregoire Canada disclosed at the 1958 Geneva conference the technique of vitrifying fission-product wastes, followed by casting the glass into stainless-steel containers and burying it deep in salt or clay. This is far more than adequate by any reasonable standard, because nuclear fuel wastes are practically unique in that their toxic potential is constantly diminishing.They are also a million times less by mass and a thousand million by volume than fossil-fuel wastes.
(DIR) Post #ATJroTRTq6s47Ph0m8 by wolf@mastodon.egroc.de
2023-03-05T21:06:54Z
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@publius @buermann @mpjgregoire sorry, but either you have no clue, or you are simply lying. It is simply impossible to store nuclear waste securely over a timeframe that is longer than modern civilization exists. Wind does not stop for weeks. And it is total bullshit that I would have to store electricity for 120 days. On the contrary - a surface of 200 x 200 km of solar panels would be more the twice what the total consumption is. Break this down into manageable redundant parks, connect them.