My Geiger counter is in the shop for maintenance.
Blog
-
Nuclear Reactors 141 – Generation IV Nuclear Reactors
Nations that export nuclear technology such as China and Russia are pouring a lot of resources into developing the “next” generation of commercial nuclear power reactors. This type of reactor is also knows as a Generation IV reactor (current power reactors are considered Generation III.) There are several different designed being pursued. These new reactors promise “significant advances in sustainability, safety and reliability, economics, physical protection and proliferation resistance.” However, some of the new designs generate plutonium for future fuel and could be seen as a proliferation threat.
Thermal reactors utilize what are referred to as slow or “thermal” neutrons. A moderator slows neutrons to make capture by fuel more probable. The very high temperature reactor (VHTR) uses uranium fuel with helium or molten salt as a coolant. This reactor can produce one thousand degree heat for use in chemical processing. The Chinese began development of a new 200 megawatt VHTR design in 2012. A molten salt reactor contains molten salt as a coolant and may include the fuel as part of the molten salt. The neutrons in a molten salt reactor are technically faster than typical thermal neutrons. A supercritical water reactor (SCWR) uses steam under high pressure as the coolant and also utilizes neutrons that are faster than the usual thermal neutrons. This reactor is intended to produce cheap electricity using technology from Generation III reactors and supercritical fossil fuel power plants. The VVER-170/393 is a SCWR being developed by the Russians.
Fast reactors use the neutrons produced by fission events without any moderators slowing them down. Fast reactors can burn the spent fuel produced by Generation III reactors. They can also be designed to produce more fuel than they burn. Gas cooled fast reactors (GFR) make use of a gas to cool the reactor and drive a gas turbine for energy production. A European consortium is working on a 100 megawatt version of the GFR. Sodium cooled fast reactors (SFR) have sodium as a coolant and are often designed to passively stop the fission reactor if the reactor overheats. Special fuels and core designs are being developed to deal with the high temperatures in the reactor. The European consortium is working on a 600 megawatt SFR design. Russia has signed a contract to provide a BN-800 SFR reactor design to China. India is also working on an 800 megawatt SFR. Lead cooled fast reactors (LFR) are cooled by molten lead or an alloy of lead and bismuth. The European consortium is working on an 100 megawatt LFR. Russia is working on a couple of LFR designs.
The U.S. Department of Energy has been tasked with completing an operational prototype of a Generation IV reactor by 2021. Phase 2 would include developing a final design for a nuclear reactor prototype, applying for licenses to build and operate the reactor technology, building the prototype, and beginning operations by 2021.
In 2011, the DoE told Congress that it could not proceed with Phase 2 of the program to develop and construct a next generation reactor “until circumstances warranted a change in direction”. Some of the problems they had encountered included cost-share and site requirements which mandate that the new reactor prototype be built at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The new reactor is intended to produce heat that could be used for industrial process but locating it at the INL would mean that it would not be near an industrial area where the heat could be utilized. Therefore the possibility of private industry picking up some of the construction costs is remote.
The United States General Accounting Office recently issued a report that criticized the U.S. Department of Energy for falling behind in the race to develop a commercial Generation IV nuclear reactor. The GAO report says that the DoE must develop a strategy for proceeding with Phase 2 of the project to develop a next generation reactor that can be operational by 2021.
Idaho National Laboratory:
-
Radiation News Roundup July 7, 2014
Cesium-134/137 density in tap water is higher in Tokyo than Miyagi prefecture, where is next to Fukushima prefecture, according to NRA Nuclear Regulation Authority. Fukushima-diary.com
The strongest typhoon of 2014 could hit Japan within 48 hours and bring destructive, high-speed winds over 150 miles per hour. Businessinsider.com
-
Geiger Readings for July 7, 2014
My Geiger counter is in the shop for maintenance.
-
Geiger Readings for July 6, 2014
My Geiger counter is in the shop for maintenance.
-
Geiger Readings for July 5, 2014
My Geiger counter is in the shop for maintenance.
-
Independence Day Thoughts 2014
Today is the Fourth of July. We celebrate the successful American Revolution that won our independence. Psychologists say that independence is one of the most important things to human beings. The ability to determine the course of our own lives and make our own choices is one of the things we brag about with respect to the United States.
There is a lot of talk these days about energy independence. Ironically, the U.S. has just passed Saudi Arabia in oil production. If we were primarily interested in energy independence, then we would keep the oil for our own use. However, some of the big energy companies have plans to sell U.S. oil on the international market. This would reduce the oil we have for our own use and increase the dependence of other countries on us.
The U.S. is currently producing record amounts of natural gas by the process known as hydraulic fracking which is polluting groundwater, contributing to green house gases and may be causing earthquakes. When the Russians threatened to turn off European gas, there were calls to liquify U.S. natural gas and ship it to Europe. This would reduce the natural gas that we have available and make Europe dependent on us.
Coal producers are digging up U.S. coal and shipping it overseas to China. This reduces the coal that we might need and it also makes China more dependent on us. Ironically, the pollution from the burning of U.S. coal in China is blown back across the ocean to pollute the air on the U.S. West Coast.
When it comes to nuclear power, while there are uranium mines in the U.S., a lot of the easy to mine uranium has been dug up and future U.S. uranium mining will be more expensive. The nuclear industry is truly global and the continued fueling and operation of nuclear power reactors depends on a global supply chain. When countries buy nuclear technology from other countries, they become dependent on those other countries for replacements. If the foreign company no longer makes those components, there are serious problems with keeping the old reactors running. Nuclear waste is piling up all around the world and nuclear plant operators are hard pressed to dispose of it. Some countries have been talking about developing a permanent geological repository that would take in nuclear wastes from other countries. This would mean that other countries that could not dispose of their own waste would not have energy independence.
While complete energy independence would be wonderful, the current situation in energy generation is more interdependent. Given that the cost of mining and drilling, transportation, processing, operations and waste handling will just keep going up, nuclear power is one of the least independent energy sources that we have. Development of sustainable and renewable alternative energy generation technology is the true path to energy independence.
