If the USA was serous about energy independence for the long term as in centuries we would build out nukes in the hundreds of 4 to 8 reactor pad sites. Those would crank out 1.5 cent at the busbars all day every day for 80 years plus. Sit right next to them synthetic fuel plants that take water salty or fresh it.doesn’t matter which and turn it into hydrogen gas then feed that hot hydrogen directly to oil refinery sized catalyst reactors where you add in nitrogen from the air to make ammonia NH3. Large diesels run very well on ammonia with zero particulate emissions and zero NOx or SOx with SCR cats behind them. If you are using salt water from the ocean it’s loaded with CO2 gas 150 times as much as air. The electrolysis process yields H2 gas and all the CO2 as well with no energy penalty since the gibbs energy is lower for CO2 vs H2 you get the carbon for “free” the Navy is using this very process to make jetfuel from seawater. They will have on the new nukes carriers the ability to make jetfuel at sea using reactor power. The Navy has already flown jets on this synthetic fuel it’s denser than normal jet fuel as a bonus more MJ per liter is always good for aircraft. Nukes to synfuels is the long-term answer for resource depletion with a ever expanding human population numbers. No need to give up high density liquid fuels just make them from thin air and seawater using cheap high capacity factor nuclear power.
No need to give up high density liquid fuels just make them from thin air and seawater using cheap high capacity factor nuclear power.
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I’ve heard that Musk is water and carbon dioxide splitting to make methane for his rockets. But that could be just a rumor.
He does want to do something like that on mars.
My understanding is that all things nuclear in the USA were killed by NRC. The regulations are just too onerous.
The interesting thing that the fusion industry people are reporting is that NRC ruled fusion reactors be in the same category as hospital X-rays and MRI’s.
That takes fusion reactors out of the hands of the federal regulators and puts them in the hands of state regulators and the regulations are relatively easy to work with.