“Really a pretty neat system that could use plentiful thorium and uranium (and possibly plutonium if I remember correctly). What was good about it was that there was not a lot of radioactive water after years of operation. It was also pretty easy to increase or decrease output to meet changes in load demand.”
except they never could get it up to full power until about a year before they decommissioned it because the various fuel and control rods kept sagging and bending, resulting in dangerous hot spots ...
interestingly, Public Service Company of Colorado had an iron clad contract with General Atomics such that if the plant didn’t meet full specs, G.A. would have to provide Public Service with a free NG plant of the same capacity ... Public Service got the NG plant, and with almost no fuss from G.A. ...
catnipman,
Thanks for the additional post. Of course, you are correct. If a similar plant would have been built subsequently, it would have incorporated a lot of changes. St Vrain had quality control issues before it ever opened, including destructive testing of its containment vessel. Plus, there were a myriad of operational issues.
Nonetheless, compared to the light water reactor designs in the remainder of US plants, this system had some important theoretical advantages, not limited to the wider range of potential fuels. It just didn’t work out so well in practice at this first plant. I think it’s interesting that the site is now a gas-fired generating facility that actually uses some of the original equipment.
Thanks again for your additional posts, especially the info about the PSC contract.