Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: GenXPolymath
...At 33% thermal to electricity...

Your guess was too high. More like 25%. Did you know the U-235 fissile loses 10% of its energy in the form of neutrinos ? If you had some method of detecting those ghostly particles our submarines would shine like mega spotlights.

78 posted on 05/04/2026 3:05:27 PM PDT by Nateman (Democrats did not strive for fraud friendly voting merely to continue honest elections.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies ]


To: Nateman

Modern PWR do routinely hit 34-36% even CANDU can hit 30% with feed water reheat.

https://world-nuclear.org/our-association/publications/technical-positions/cooling-of-power-plants

“Nuclear plants currently being built have about 34-36% thermal efficiency, while one of the new reactor designs boasts 39%.”

Sodium fast reactors operate much hotter than PWR in the 500C range they are approaching 44% typical 40-43% running at 500-550C much hotter than the 330C of a PWR.

Supercritical CO2 turbines at 550C cross 50% gross efficiency it’s why SCO2 was developed in the first place for advanced high temp reactors the gas cooled kind first then sodium metal cooled.


80 posted on 05/04/2026 3:19:14 PM PDT by GenXPolymath
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson