Posted on 08/02/2022 10:51:54 AM PDT by ShadowAce
The first generation-IV nuclear reactor design has been approved for certification by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). NuScale's small modular reactor design promises safe, clean energy at radically reduced cost, land use and installation time.
The NRC released news last week that its staff have been directed to make a final rule certifying the NuScale reactor design for use in the United States. This is just the seventh design approved by the NRC since it was established in 1974, and the first of a coming generation of next-gen technologies designed to make nuclear power cheaper, easier and safer to implement than ever before.
The keys to this small modular reactor's advantages lie in its small size and modularity. Rather than having to build each reactor on site, custom designed for the location, NuScale can mass-manufacture its light water reactor modules in a factory and then ship them worldwide for a relatively quick and painless installation.
Each roughly cylindrical module stands around 65 ft (20 m) high, with a 9-foot (2.7-m) diameter, and produces 77 megawatts by pushing steam out through a turbine. A given power plant could run anywhere between four and 12 of these modules, submerged in a water tank, so an overall power station will be good for between 308 and 924 MW. Nuclear will be a key baseline generator for renewables-based power grids in many areas, and NuScale says its mass production capabilities will make it cost-competitive even with some fossil-fueled options.
Like most other generation IV nuclear designs, the NuScale plant is designed to shut itself down safely in an emergency without any operator input or power requirements. The feedwater and steam exit valves will close in the event of an emergency situation, and a secondary set of valves will open to depressurize...
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
Tech (Non-Linux) ping!
Yet in those almost 50 years, how many were built?
“Yet in those almost 50 years, how many were built?”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_the_United_States#Nuclear_power_plants
I get the New Atlas emails too. One thing I’ve noticed is 99% of the time I never see these products they highlight ever go into production.
I bet I’ve seen no less than 25 cures for male pattern baldness on their site that I never saw again. It’s always 5-10 years away but these things they show usually don’t ever become reality.
Some do. Most don’t. At least it seems that way to me.
A small safe nuclear generator that can power a skyscraper or 10K people neighborhood would be great if it ever did become a reality though.
“Yet in those almost 50 years, how many were built?”
I participated in the construction/startup of nine.
Not many, not nearly enough especially in the last 10 years or so.
I read a convincing article (I’ll have to look for it) that Russia’s success in the international nuclear field is that they have stuck with one design, and simply make constant, incremental updates and improvements. Thus there is a lot of collective, institutional experience and knowledge within its nuclear power companies, commonality of parts and maintenance and optimization of cost.
US designs tend to be more diverse and different, and on top of bloated US industry and environmental rules and costs, this makes our designs much more expensive.
Would welcome any comments on this from knowledgeable people in the industry.
You might view the video in the article.
Numb nuts at the NRC just approved a design that’s obsolete.
Makes me think about Lucy and the football...
“I read a convincing article (I’ll have to look for it) that Russia’s success in the international nuclear field is that they have stuck with one design, and simply make constant, incremental updates and improvements.”
I think other factors are in play. Click the link to see which countries are buying them!
Russian nuclear plants also boast price competitiveness, with the government providing loans to finance the high costs. Not only does Russia build the plant, but it supplies the fuel, operates and maintains the reactors, and disposes of the used fuel. This makes a deal with Russia attractive for countries that want to build their first nuclear plant, but which lack the operational know-how.
“Nuclear will be a key baseline generator for renewables-based power grids in many areas...”
More like nuclear-based power grids will allow politicians to pretend that renewables are contributing anything but headaches to the power grid.
“Numb nuts at the NRC just approved a design that’s obsolete.”
Why is it obsolete?
Never know. It could run embedded Linux. :)
The US nuclear regulator has been only a decade too slow.
Would make a good home power source and charge you Tesla quick.
It also helps that they have a near monopoly on uranium worldwide thanks to the Wagner Group. That in addition to the 20% of US stocks that H.Clinton sold them.
Were you in Idaho Falls/Arco, ID ?
I drove past the lab a couple weeks ago on my way from Idaho Falls to Boise across rt 20.
LOL! True.
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