Posted on 05/04/2023 9:05:00 AM PDT by Red Badger
WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. company Westinghouse unveiled plans on Thursday for a small modular reactor to generate virtually emissions-free electricity that could replace coal plants or power water desalinization and other industries.
Rita Baranwal, the Westinghouse Electricity Co's top technology officer, said the reactor, dubbed AP300 for its planned 300 Megawatt capacity, will not use special fuels or liquid metal coolants unlike some other next-generation reactors.
It will be a smaller version of its AP1000 reactor, several of which are operating in China, and which are ramping up in Georgia at the Vogtle plant, after years of delay and billions of dollars over budget.
Despite hurdles for new nuclear, Baranwal was confident. "We've kept it simple, designed it on demonstrated and licensed technology, and I think that's one of the advantages that we have with this concept," she told Reuters in an interview. Westinghouse, owned by Brookfield Business Partners (BBU.N), plans to start constructing the reactor by 2030 and have it running by 2033.
Small modular reactors (SMR) are meant to fit new applications such as replacing shut coal plants and being located in more remote communities. President Joe Biden's administration believes that maintaining existing nuclear plants and developing next-generation reactors is crucial for its goal of decarbonizing the economy by 2050.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Or, instead of a cave. An abandoned mine.
I mean, we must be increasingly on the alert to prevent them taking over other mine shafts space, in order to breed more prodigiously than we do. Thus, knocking us out of these superior numbers when we emerge! Mr. President, we must not allow a mine-shaft gap!
I have (yet another) dumb question
The engines on an Areleigh Burke class destroyer generate 78,000 kW but the Ohio class reactors produce 190 mega watts.
Why the huge difference?
Could have been done half a century ago.
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Subs are about 300 MW
Carrier A1B reactors are rated at 800 MW
Let me know when I can get one at Lowe’s...
Bkmk
Unless it can be built and shipped to the site - it will be a colossal failure.
The biggest problem with Nuke plants is that there are no economies of scale in construction. No US builder has built more than 5. Huge learning curve on every site.
“There is a design called a Pebble Bed Reactor that would be about the size of your home HVAC compressor unit sitting outside your house. “
LOL!
“15 years ago I saw a reactor being sold that was the size of a large frig. They can make them very small. It was at the convention center by Disney in CA.”
B.S.
Or a Moon base or a Mars base.
My point is, a nuclear Ohio-class submarine puts out about 380 megawatts of power in a relatively small footprint that doesn’t take decades to build especially if you took out all the electronic warfare sections and used it just for power generation to the electric grid.
“The engines on an Areleigh Burke class destroyer generate 78,000 kW but the Ohio class reactors produce 190 mega watts.”
Different ships. .. bit the 78 MW in the destroyer is shaft hp and the sub is reactor power.
Ballpark:
190 MW x 35% = 67 MW.
One’s nuclear (Ohio) and the other is gas turbine.
“My point is, a nuclear Ohio-class submarine puts out about 380 megawatts of power in a relatively small footprint that doesn’t take decades to build especially if you took out all the electronic warfare sections and used it just for power generation to the electric grid.”
Fueled by weapons grade uranium!
Interesting. Thank you.
Maybe not single homes but small subdivisions would also work.
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