Posted on 12/29/2020 5:46:46 PM PST by Rebelbase
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — The Guardian reports that Danish company Seaborg Technologies plans to fit barges with small nuclear reactors, to provide energy to developing countries.
These reactors will be Compact Molten Salt Reactors, or CMSRs, in short.
This is how CMSRs work:
The primary loop is where the heat from standard nuclear rods are transferred to molten fluoride salt.
The secondary loop is where this superheated liquid transfers its heat to a heat exchanger filled with coolant salt.
The third loop is where the heat from the coolant salt is finally transferred to the liquids that will now transmit the nuclear heat energy into high-pressure steam, that spin the turbines, that spin fast to create lots of electricity.
So, instead of Light Water, these reactors use salt that only melts at very high temperatures.
Seaborg says this means that if the reactor core is ever exposed, the salt will turn into a solid rock, trapping the nuclear material inside it.
Unlike the explosive pressures of other reactors, CMSRs operate at near-atmospheric pressures, and feature a frozen salt plug that melts if overheating occurs, allowing the core to drain into cooled tanks.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Molten salt reactors were invented in the early 60’s for the purpose of making a nuclear reactor that could be used in a plane. They are different from the water cooled reactors in common usage today. When water is superheated it dissociates into hydrogen and oxygen so extreme pressure is a result. Molten salt never boils so the pressure doesn’t build up to explosive levels.
My question was what is the moderator in a molten salt reactor? In a light water reactor it is the water. If the core in a light water reactor loses water the reaction will just stop, though the latent heat will melt the fuel rods. That’s what happened to Three Mile Island. If the salt is the moderator in a molten salt reactor then how is it any safer? If the salt drains away the core will still melt won’t it?
I was on a floating nuclear power plant for 3 years. It even deliberately sank most of the time
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