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Miniature nuclear reactors could be the answer to sustainable datacenter growth
The Register ^ | 12/31/2022 | Tobias Mann

Posted on 12/31/2022 2:35:50 PM PST by SeekAndFind

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1 posted on 12/31/2022 2:35:50 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I think nuclear power would help our country greatly, as long as we avoid incidents like Chernobyl.


2 posted on 12/31/2022 2:41:16 PM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as. )
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To: No name given

these are small scale reactors that probably cannot melt.

I can see them being used in some cases, and in some countries, and for some workloads.

for example would I use one of these in Redmond for a microsoft data center, no probably not energy is cheap in that area of washington and there are nimbys

would I use one of these to mine bitcoin in the middle of a desert or in an arctic area with no population,

or if I were Musky somewhere on Mars, oh yes you betcha.


3 posted on 12/31/2022 2:51:41 PM PST by algore
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To: SeekAndFind

Great, nuclear for data centers that will track and control our lives and make sure our bug protein vs actual meat ratio is correct. Generating power for us? Not so much.


4 posted on 12/31/2022 2:55:45 PM PST by Pollard ( >>> The Great Reset is already underway! <<<)
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To: SeekAndFind
The data center I work in uses an ENORMOUS amount of power.
Every rack is supplied with 220 VAC / 60 amps.
The UPS room is about 5000 sq ft, has batteries that are 24 inches tall.
The air coolers in the computer rooms are each like 4 refrigerators side-by-side, and there are about 20 of those.
The condensers to service those air coolers, 4 of them on the outside, are half the size of truck-tractors.
20,000 sq ft of a room full of racks.

Those nuclear reactors better not be too small.

5 posted on 12/31/2022 3:02:32 PM PST by red-dawg (They're going to have to pry my gasoline powered car from my cold, dead hands.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Under the illegitimate pedo bidet regime, the software will be forced to be outsourced to the chicoms. What could go wrong?


6 posted on 12/31/2022 3:12:13 PM PST by Caipirabob (Communists...Socialists...Fascists & AntiFa...Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: SeekAndFind

So NOW we can have nuclear reactors AFTER the Commies are in charge.


7 posted on 12/31/2022 3:15:59 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is ████ █ ██████ ███████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████.)
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To: SeekAndFind
time to invest in SMR?
8 posted on 12/31/2022 3:17:01 PM PST by bankwalker (Repeal the 19th ...)
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To: red-dawg

You didn’t mention your backup diesel generators and their fuel storage tanks. All that expense would go away with SMRs.


9 posted on 12/31/2022 3:18:22 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (If you're not part of the solution, you're just scumming up the bottom of the beake)
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To: SeekAndFind

Here is someone trying to make a point that could be quite convincing and then he puts in a word like itty-bitty. Then he decides to make it relatively itty-bitty. I think itty-bitty as a stupid term stands alone, but adding relatively to it removes any usefulness of cuteness.


10 posted on 12/31/2022 3:24:49 PM PST by webheart
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To: SeekAndFind

In case y’all forgot:

https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-promoting-small-modular-reactors-national-defense-space-exploration/


11 posted on 12/31/2022 3:25:42 PM PST by fretzer
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To: webheart

If such reactors pop up in Scotland, will they be referred to as “wee reactors”?


12 posted on 12/31/2022 3:28:34 PM PST by who_would_fardels_bear (What is left around which to circle the wagons?)
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To: No name given

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘺𝘭.

My understanding of the aftermath of Chernobyl was that the flaw in the RBMK reactors was worked out. Seeing how things are these days, bureaucrats, technocrats, politicians, and/or diversity hires will ensure we’d have another event on the scale of Chernobyl, or much, much worse.


13 posted on 12/31/2022 3:30:31 PM PST by Antihero101607
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
You're right, I didn't mention those.
We have locally generated (city) electricity but we have diesel generators, with fuel storage, AND a room-size UPS.
Those would not go away by replacing local (city) electricity with an SMR.
Redundancy is paramount.
BTW, it is a DoD data center.
14 posted on 12/31/2022 3:35:22 PM PST by red-dawg (They're going to have to pry my gasoline powered car from my cold, dead hands.)
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To: Antihero101607

They have been trumpeting thorium reactors for now close to twenty years. They should be operational by now.


15 posted on 12/31/2022 3:40:06 PM PST by Bookshelf
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To: SeekAndFind

I just wrote a dissertation in my law school class on the SMR. They’re a pretty neat concept. The big issue is finding sufficient people to work on the reactors. Simple truth is that there aren’t enough smart people to operate the SMR (300 MWhr reactors) and the Mini reactors. The navy pays millions upon millions of dollars in bonuses to attract and retain operators. Foreign countries are willing to pay millions of dollars to hire them after Nukes leave the navy.


16 posted on 12/31/2022 3:47:43 PM PST by GeorgianaCavendish (Beam me up Scotty. There's no sign of intelligent life down here.)
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To: No name given

Russian reactors used liquid graphite and were inherently unsafe. As they got hotter, they got more reactive. As they got more reactive, they got hotter.....


17 posted on 12/31/2022 3:49:05 PM PST by GeorgianaCavendish (Beam me up Scotty. There's no sign of intelligent life down here.)
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To: SeekAndFind

They didn’t work very well at the Antarctic research station. They reverted to diesel generators.


18 posted on 12/31/2022 3:59:38 PM PST by GingisK
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To: No name given
as long as we avoid incidents like Chernobyl

That is the trick, isn't it? Proper vigilance is never maintained.

19 posted on 12/31/2022 4:00:59 PM PST by GingisK
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To: GeorgianaCavendish
liquid graphite

I don't think graphite melts.

20 posted on 12/31/2022 4:02:41 PM PST by GingisK
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