Page 1 of 1
TVA to build 6 thorium reactors
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 7:58 pm
by EricF
Cool! I used to trout fish in the Clinch river near the prison.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2 ... r-reactors
In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, countries like Germany and Switzerland have decided that nuclear energy isn’t worth the risk. The Tennessee Valley Authority apparently isn’t so skittish. The TVA has inked a letter of intent with nuke-maker Babcock & Wilcox to build six small, modular reactors near Clinch River, Tenn., the first time such small, distributed reactors have been tapped for commercial power generation.
......................
This idea relies more on next-gen thorium reactors that would be far safer to strew across urban landscapes than the current 1,000-megawatt models that bring with them the risk--however slight--of catastrophic meltdown. The TVA/B&W scheme is more of a plan to build a single power plant distributed between several reactors to improve safety and reduce costs. But it’s a step in the same direction, and could set a precedent for the way future nuclear energy projects are rolled out in this country.
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 9:36 pm
by Skipjack
I thought their reactors are just regular BW reactors?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 11:58 pm
by KitemanSA
Skipjack wrote:I thought their reactors are just regular BW reactors?
Doesn't look to be a molten salt reactor so it could be a small BWR. Solid furel thorium can support a BWR as well as U235 provided there are enough AccelDriven neutrons to overcome the Pa poisoning.
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 1:46 am
by EricF
Skipjack wrote:I thought their reactors are just regular BW reactors?
The article kinda of gave me the impression that this might be a pilot program to test a new reactor design.
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:55 am
by Skipjack
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/06/tva-si ... r-six.html
No Thorium I am affraid. Just the normal boring BWR. Only thing interesting about it is the smaller size, but that is no real news anymore either, is it?
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 11:27 am
by KitemanSA
YASD!
But it is a "small, modular" yet another stupid design.
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 12:24 pm
by EricF
huh,
mPower small reactor, a 125 MW LWR design that is still being completed on the drawing boards in Lynchburg, VA.
I wonder why the Popsci article threw in all that info at the end about thorium reactors, it makes it seem like that's the intent with the TVA plan. Doh!
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 6:28 pm
by Skipjack
But it is a "small, modular" yet another stupid design.
I would not call it a bad idea in general, but it is IMHO not all that exciting (not as much as a Thorium reactor would be). There are many others around that are simillar, if not better, e.g. Hyperions liquid metal designs and I think Mitsubishi had one too...
If it was Thorium or traveling wave it would get me excited, but the more or less standard design, just smaller is not really going to make much of a difference for nuclear power anymore (not here anyway).
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 7:13 pm
by KitemanSA
Skipjack wrote:But it is a "small, modular" yet another stupid design.
I would not call it a bad idea in general,
That's ok, I'll do it for ya!
You may be able to tell that I am of the opinion that ANY reactor that runs U235+ is rather stupid, and any solid fuel reactor is much more so. JMHO!
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 7:16 pm
by EricF
Skipjack wrote:But it is a "small, modular" yet another stupid design.
I would not call it a bad idea in general, but it is IMHO not all that exciting (not as much as a Thorium reactor would be). There are many others around that are simillar, if not better, e.g. Hyperions liquid metal designs and I think Mitsubishi had one too...
If it was Thorium or traveling wave it would get me excited, but the more or less standard design, just smaller is not really going to make much of a difference for nuclear power anymore (not here anyway).
I think you are thinking of this one
http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/nex ... 2.17b.html
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 8:17 pm
by Skipjack
Indeed I am. Mitsubishi, Toshiba, both are in making nuclear reactors, AFAIK, easy to mix up
I actually wasnt sure, did a quick google search, saw Mitsubishi come up and went with that. Anyway, my point was that it is not a big new invention.
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 8:34 pm
by EricF
I didn't know Mitsubishi was too, that's great. With so many companies making the small molten-salt type reactors with alternative fuels, why hasn't their use become more prominent?
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 8:36 pm
by Skipjack
I am not sure whether Mitsubishi really does them too, the name just showed up when I searched for them and nuclear reactors
IIRC, none of these reactors are molten salt.