Posted on 01/04/2022 3:59:37 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
China connected its first small modular nuclear reactor to its power grid, making it the first country in the world to draw power from such a machine, a report from Bloomberg reveals.
China Huaneng Group Co.'s 200-megawatt unit 1 reactor at Shidao Bay is connected to the grid in the Shandong province. The company is also developing a second reactor, which is scheduled to go into full operation next year following tests.
The 200-megawatt small modular reactor (SMR) is roughly a fifth of the size of China's first proprietary reactor design, called Hualong One. Its small size allows for greater scalability as well as reduced operations and deployment costs.
The new modular nuclear reactor is the world's first pebble-bed modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. Instead of heating up water, it heats helium to produce energy. The machine is designed to quickly shut down if an error occurs.
(Excerpt) Read more at interestingengineering.com ...
.
“Found out last week that those birdchopper blades have an internal scaffolding made from BALSA WOOD clear-cut from the Amazon Rainforest.”
The Balsa come from balsa plantations and are harvested after a few years of growth. It crows very fast.
Much more profitable than clear-cutting.
US has its own start-ups out there.
Recently did a power service job at Nu-Scale. It was only at their administrative offices. I may drop some money into them.
Not sure if they are trading just yet.
......instead of blowing money on little nuclear power plants the Chinese should be using that money to pay engineers to FIX the Three Gorges Dam which, according to some, is about to break and possibly kill millions of people!
Judging from all the Chinese crap I’ve been forced to buy the last think I want with Made in China stamped on it is a nuclear power plant in my back yard.
Then they’ll hire him back as a consultant for a while at exorbitant rates when their tit is in a wringer on something.
I know a bunch of retired utility guys that are contractors in their 60’s.
They get some nice coin.
Hmmm...
You must be over 70...
Well, reading about it.
Jordan Peterson made that point in a recent talk I saw him on.
I retired in 2011 after 41 years in.
In 2011 I had arranged to take the last month of the year in vacation and then Jan 2012 was a month of vacation from that year. While sailing down to the Fla keys on my sail boat, I figured I didn't need to do nuc anymore. With SRO quals and engineering work stacked up on my return, it was hard to imagine getting everything back in order so I enjoyed the winter in the Fla keys instead.
Did 31 years in the civilian world and the submarine navy added up to 37 years. That was enough.
I'm also a UF engineering grad.
“Did 31 years in the civilian world and the submarine navy added up to 37 years. That was enough.
I’m also a UF engineering grad.”
Six years sub. UF Nuclear Engineering. Were George and Henry still manning the reactor when you were there?
Chernobyl and Fukishima showed that it stops but costs a buttload to clean up
Case in point: Eastern Bloc countries and the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain.
And this includes Communist China.
The worst environmental insults have been in areas that have destroyed their economies by embracing socialism and planned economies.
As for nuclear power? Well, we should be embracing it, but...Leftists AGAIN are responsible for demonizing this form of energy production and, as a result, making it unobtainable for us in the West.
I’ve thought for years that if a “standard” (mass-produced) small reactor could be built, our problems would be over.
More complicated, for sure, and not so small-scale, but not unlike those stationary utility combustion engines all the old farmers used to have that they could hook up to anything using belts.
Make the reactors the size of a semi-trailer and put them all over the place. They could power small communities easily. Maybe we can’t make them that small yet, but if we’d started decades ago, we’d be close by now. (Yes, yes, there are all kinds of “but what about [insert your problem here]?” But those are what we call “engineering problems”. Those can be solved.)
24% of the known universe is helium. But it’s hard to keep in on earth.
“Make the reactors the size of a semi-trailer and put them all over the place. They could power small communities easily. Maybe we can’t make them that small yet, but if we’d started decades ago, we’d be close by now.”
Absolutely, I have been saying this for years. We have navy ships that have been running these sized reactors safely for years. Just tie them all together so that if one fails it is a minimal impact on service. And the smaller size makes it containable.
I think the problem is government regulations. They make it such a huge deal to build one, so when someone applies they have to get all they can packed into that rare permit and approval. If the government backed off and made it easier, what you say could be done and would absolutely work.
You can’t power modern civilization on wind and solar. Remember this the next time you see Green extremists pushing for more of those, and trying to shut down coal and gas fired power generation.
—
Just watch Germany as it shuts down half of it nuclear power plants this winter and the other half next winter.
I wish I’d bookmarked it. A couple months ago I saw a German PSA about how not to freeze to death in your unseated apartment this winter. I wish I was kidding.
The reason is simply for the turbine farms to look "green".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.