Meltdown-proof 21st century reactor

[watermock]

http://gt-mhr.ga.com/index.html

[Spider]

I have always been for more Nuke power ...........Meltdowns dont worry me , we are not Russia , Waste is a bigger issue , But I say we call France and have them show us how to recycle the waste

[Bronco Yoda]

You know I agree as well. We've talked about it.

It is the only reasonable way to cut our dependency in the near future.

As good as our old nuclear facilities still running are, they're like model-T's compared to what's been developed and on-line around the world in the last two decades.

[watermock]

And right when we are starting to think about safe nuclear, we get Mr. Green as prez. e need solar and such, but with the volt comming, we need more juice w/o greenhouse gasses.

Getting safe nuclear going will be viewed as one of Bush's many failures.

I don't trust those 40 year old plants..if there is another 12m island, it will set it back another 30 years.

Those early plants are already past their design lifespan.

[watermock]

SUMMARY
The Gas Turbine – Modular Helium Reactor is now feasible because of four recent technical advances:

Modular helium reactors with inherent safety characteristics, capable of producing very high gas temperatures;
High-efficiency gas turbines developed for the airline and the utility industries;
Plate-fin heat exchanger technology;
Frictionless magnetic bearings.
The result is a simplified power cycle with very high efficiency and reliability, and low power cost. Thermal efficiencies are increased by 50% relative to conventional nuclear reactor plants. Current reactors produce 50% more high-level waste per kWh of electricity than the GT-MHR.

No CO2, no acid rain, a hundred thousand times less waste volume than coal, conservation of limited natural resources. . . plus, safety through the laws of nature. The meltdown-proof Gas Turbine MHR. . . to power the world into a new century.

[ScottXray]

There is no such thing as a melt down proof reactor.
If WE (mankind) build it, it can fail!

However, Adequate safety is probable with the new tech, although it is much more expensive.

Nuclear will probably be a component of any future energy plan....but aalthough these are more efficient you still end up with waste that has to be put somewhere for 10K-20000 years.

Geo Thermo power ( natural and non threatening ) is the best solution....no cost after build other than maintenance and operation.

[watermock]

Geothermal waters are highly corrosive. It's a major problem.

[Fedaykin]

Other similar reactors have been proposed and built, such as Pebble Bed Reactors:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor

Basically, a PBR is many small reactors working together (each "pebble" is a fully contained reactor).

PBRs have passive and inherent safety in the area of major concern for a reactor: core temperature. The primary passive safety feature of a PBR is that the fission reaction actually stops past a particular temperature due to the way the fuel is distributed in the reactor. Thus, you cannot have a core meltdown like in a standard reactor. A PBR literally shuts down all by itself if it overheats.

[Fedaykin]

There is no such thing as a melt down proof reactor.
If WE (mankind) build it, it can fail!


PBRs are meltdown-proof (see my previous msg). They don't eliminate all problems, but they do eliminate the possibility of uncontrolled reaction of the fuel (aka core meltdown).

[/quote]
Nuclear will probably be a component of any future energy plan....but aalthough these are more efficient you still end up with waste that has to be put somewhere for 10K-20000 years.
[/quote]

The amount of that waste and the time needed to store it can be decreased manyfold with the use of breeder reactors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeder_reactor

The reason we have a waste problem now is because current reactors only consume a tiny fraction (~1%) of the fuel. Breeder Reactors approach 100% consumption of the fuel meaning ~99% less waste. Also, they also have waste products with much shorter half-lives which means the material will be dangerous for much less time.

[watermock]

I've talked about pebble reactors before. This new generation using helium is more efficient and has several new advancements like electromagnetic bearings.

As far as breeder reactors go, I wish they had chosen a different name, its very misleading.
Either would be inherently safer than our obsolete and dangerous high pressure 50 year old tech.

At any rate, the current adminstration isnt going to do crap on our reliance on forien oil. What we CAN DO is start using film solar on houses.