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Small modular reactor design could be a SUPERSTAR
R&D Magazine ^ | Feb 9 2012

Posted on 02/11/2012 7:59:11 AM PST by Wonder Warthog

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Fission may not be dead just yet.
1 posted on 02/11/2012 7:59:14 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: Wonder Warthog

The article doesn’t make clear whether this is a homogenous reactor, or keeps the coolant separated from the fuel.

Nor does the original source of the research:

http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2012/news120209.html


2 posted on 02/11/2012 8:02:01 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: Wonder Warthog

The future of nuclear is cold fusion.

Tunneling Beneath the 4He Fragmentation Energy
J. Condensed Matter Nucl. Sci. 4 (2011) pages 241–255 ^ | February 2011 | K P Sinha
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2743039/posts
Posted on Friday, July 01, 2011 10:45:05 PM by Kevmo
J. Condensed Matter Nucl. Sci. 4 (2011) pages 241–255

A model for enhanced fusion reaction in a solid matrix of metal deuterides
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 10:14:09 PM · by Kevmo · 35 replies
International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science. 2008 ^ | July 2008 | K P Sinha
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2732072/posts

Cold Fusion #1 Claims NASA Chief (Focardi & Rossi - not cold fusion but close enough)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2730240/posts
Sunday, June 05, 2011 11:56:09 AM · by Titus-Maximus · 52 replies

How to Prove that the Rossi/Focardi eCAT LENR is Real (or Fake)
LENR.QUMBO.com ^ | April 6, 2011 | Alan Fletcher
Posted on Sunday, June 05, 2011 7:52:15 PM by Kevmo
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2730401/posts

How I Made Money from Cold Fusion
Saturday, January 23, 2010 12:28:49 PM · by Kevmo · 28 replies · 1,013+ views
Exclusive Article for Free Republic | 1/23/10 | Kevmo
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2435697/posts

HOW TO SAVE OUR ECONOMY
Friday, December 31, 2010 1:57:41 AM · by Kevmo · 40 replies The American Reporter ^ | December 29, 2010 | Joe Shea
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2649712/posts

Re-Analysis of the Marinov Light-Speed Anisotropy Experiment
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2270920/posts
Friday, June 12, 2009 11:25:41 PM · by Kevmo · 27 replies · 1,027+ views
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/physics/pdf/0612/0612201v2.pdf ^ | Reginald T. Cahill

The Suppression of Inconvenient Facts in Physics
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2266921/posts
Sunday, June 07, 2009 7:50:26 PM · by Kevmo · 78 replies · 1,626+ views Suppressed Science.Net ^ | 12/06/08 | http://www.suppressedscience.net/

The End of Snide Remarks Against Cold Fusion
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2265914/posts
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:56:08 PM · by Kevmo · 95 replies · 1,770+ views
Free Republic, Gravitronics.net and Intrade ^ | 6/5/09 | kevmo, et al

‘Cold Fusion’ Rebirth? New Evidence For Existence Of Controversial Energy Source
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2212864/posts
Monday, March 23, 2009 12:42:14 PM · by FlameThrower · 35 replies · 1,586+ views
Science Daily ^ | Mar. 23, 2009 | American Chemical Society

____________________


3 posted on 02/11/2012 8:05:50 AM PST by Kevmo (If you can define a man by the depravity of his enemies, Rick Santorum must be a noble soul indeed.)
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To: Wonder Warthog

Wait a minute . . we have a nuclear industry? I remember we used to have one!


4 posted on 02/11/2012 8:11:54 AM PST by ArchAngel1983 (Arch Angel- on guard / Wenn Sie etwas sehen, sagen Sie etwas!)
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To: Kevmo
"The future of nuclear is cold fusion.

I certainly hope that it is, but I'll take any good energy source that works.

5 posted on 02/11/2012 8:14:36 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: Kevmo

Right. We could pour untold billions of taxpayer dollars into the cold fusion fantasy......or we could build this little suckers by the thousands for a fraction of the cost without a dime of taxpayer money.

What to do......what to do......


6 posted on 02/11/2012 8:15:08 AM PST by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Lurker

We’ve poured untold billions of taxpayer dollars into the hot fusion fantasy and got nothin.


7 posted on 02/11/2012 8:21:03 AM PST by Kevmo (If you can define a man by the depravity of his enemies, Rick Santorum must be a noble soul indeed.)
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To: Wonder Warthog

A Finnish engineer told me there will be unlimited fusion power by 2020.
If so, solar and wind subsidies are money down the toilet.


8 posted on 02/11/2012 8:22:46 AM PST by omega4179 (Internet ID:FU░&#BO)
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To: Wonder Warthog

Nothing new...just ask our Soviet/Russian friends. Seems this nimrod is not that concerned about what happens when liquid sodium-cooled reactors fail, particularly in proximity to good old water. He doesn’t talk much about how technologies have advanced to make such reactors safe, particularly when contrasted with the issues Fukushima is having right now (and it being a more modern water-cooled reactor).

If we’re going to build a nuclear reactor, which I think we should be doing, there are several new technologies put forth in the past 20 years or so that are worth exploring. Case in point is the pebble-bed reactor; it’s less dependent upon cooling loops and contains the fissile material in such a manner so as to minimize the chance for runaway reactions.


9 posted on 02/11/2012 8:29:56 AM PST by Marechal
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To: Kevmo

Precisely. With this little beauty we have proven fission technology in a safe, modular, portable unit. Let GE and Mitsubishi beat the crap out of each other on price and sell them by the thousands.


10 posted on 02/11/2012 8:32:12 AM PST by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Wonder Warthog
The concept offers promising answers to many questions about nuclear power—including proliferation, waste, safety, and start-up costs.

Some how this concept makes no sense to me considering that this reactor is small portable and designed to operate 15 to 30 years without refueling.

This long life core necessitates highly enriched Uranium or Plutonium fuel.

I checked out this analysis of the design and it shows that the core is between 78 and 83 percent enriched Uranium.

Design Analysis

That means that this fuel is pretty close to bomb grade fuel. Some creative engineer could probably make it go boom. It would be dirty but what does a terrorist care.

You ship this to a third world country and it would be an open invitation to terrorist to high jack the reactor and put the fuel to their purpose; be it holding it hostage or breaking it open and making a bomb.

11 posted on 02/11/2012 8:33:26 AM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: Wonder Warthog
Here is a link to the description of the Lead cooled nukes. They are solid fuel assemblies cooled by liquid lead. The Russians use a similar reactor in their nuclear subs..

http://www.gen-4.org/Technology/systems/lfr.htm

12 posted on 02/11/2012 8:35:25 AM PST by between_the_lines_mn
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To: Marechal

Fukishima is modern? I thought they didn’t even have a heat exchanger, which means water from the reactor drives the turbine directly.


13 posted on 02/11/2012 8:55:05 AM PST by Lx (Do you like it, do you like it. Scott? I call it Mr. and Mrs. Tennerman chili.)
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To: Wonder Warthog

You can love whatever variation of nuclear power that you want. And, you can point out all of the technical articles you want on your favorite. In the end, none but the conventional PWR and BWR will be built until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its regulations are re-structured to allow a licensing process. The NRC barely has the resources to keep up with regulating the 100 plus running plants in this country and applications for 30 plus more. Demands for the federal government to subsidize this that and the other because they already waste/wasted money on something else is ridiculous logic. Note that the current licensees pay fees designed to fund the NRC completely; effectively the NRC is self-funded.


14 posted on 02/11/2012 9:00:06 AM PST by sefarkas (Why vote Democrat Lite?)
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To: Kevmo

Rossi is a fraud and a convict.


15 posted on 02/11/2012 9:09:16 AM PST by EEGator
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To: Lurker
"Right. We could pour untold billions of taxpayer dollars into the cold fusion fantasy......or we could build this little suckers by the thousands for a fraction of the cost without a dime of taxpayer money."

It hasn't been cold fusion that has gotten "untold billions of taxpayer dollars". That would be the "hot fusion" (and particularly the Tokamak) guys. VERY little taxpayer money has gone to CF. It could probably have been funded out of the petty cash account of the hot fusion efforts.

16 posted on 02/11/2012 9:22:01 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: Marechal
"Seems this nimrod is not that concerned about what happens when liquid sodium-cooled reactors fail, particularly in proximity to good old water.

Ah, but this reactor's coolant is not sodium, but lead. Much more inert.

"Case in point is the pebble-bed reactor; it’s less dependent upon cooling loops and contains the fissile material in such a manner so as to minimize the chance for runaway reactions."

The PBR has not lived up to its hype. It turns out that examination of test reactors has revealed unexpected major instability in the fuel elements (pebbles). There was serious discussion of this problem on an earlier post some months back.

17 posted on 02/11/2012 9:22:19 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: Pontiac
"That means that this fuel is pretty close to bomb grade fuel. Some creative engineer could probably make it go boom. It would be dirty but what does a terrorist care."

Nope. Not nearly enough enrichment for "boom-making". That was why I was wondering if it was a homogeneous reactor. With the lead coolant, the fuel would be intermixed with the lead (including radioactive lead isotopes from the fission process) and be virtually impossible to proliferate. Having separate fuel elements increases the likelihood of proliferation.

18 posted on 02/11/2012 9:26:31 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: between_the_lines_mn

Good info....thanks for adding it to the thread.


19 posted on 02/11/2012 9:38:33 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: EEGator
"Rossi is a fraud and a convict."

Day late, dollar short. That particular subject has been beaten to death already. Give it a rest.

20 posted on 02/11/2012 9:40:03 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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