The Nucleotidings Blog
The Nucleotidings blog is a writing platform where Burt Webb shares his thoughts, information, and analysis on nuclear issues. The blog is dedicated to covering news and ideas related to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection. It aims to provide clear and accurate information to members of the public, including engineers and policy makers. Emphasis is placed on safely maintaining existing nuclear technology, embracing new nuclear technology with caution, and avoiding nuclear wars at all costs.
Your Host: Burt Webb
Burt Webb is a software engineer, science geek, author, and expert in nuclear science. Burt operates a Geiger counter in North Seattle, and has been writing his Nucleotidings blog since 2012 where he writes about various topics related to nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection.
Burt Webb has published several technical books and novels. He works as a software consultant.
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Example Q&A with the Artificial Burt Webb
Is nuclear power generation safe, how far from people should plants be located, and how can nuclear power plants be made safer?
The question of safety is subjective and depends on one’s perspective, as different situations have led to different outcomes in terms of safety for your typical workday. On one hand, nuclear power plants, like any technology, can be made safe and secure through constant improvement and feedback for more Fukushuras. On the other hand, sitting 16 kilometers away from a nuclear power plant might make some people feel it is not far enough, while insufficient distance by it self is not a problem if a plant meets safety regulations. Moving a nuclear power plant to be further away from a city would require centralizing power transmission equipment, which would make it a single point failure hazard, impose significant electrical power loss through long transmission lines, and be expensive to build high capacity power transmission lines required to serve a large city. Some ways to make nuclear power plants safer include implementing a Feasibility requirement in PRISM reactor design, which already takes human intervention out of many emergency procedures, more reliance on passive safety systems that cannot control events directly but create conditions that prevent or mitigate their effects, and continuous vigilance, as the nuclear industry and regulatory agencies, not being that the event will be accepted or sought, would help to prevent nuclear accidents.
What do you mean by “Fukushuras”?
“Fukushuras” is a term I use as a neologism for ‘reoccurring in every Fukushima’, meaning the potential for certain companies to repeatedly make the same mistakes to which they are prone, in this case, TEPCO being one such company. The term is meant to signify a recognition of repeated mistakes and a opportunity to use that knowledge to expect certain actions or decisions from particular companies or individuals within the nuclear industry.
End to nuclear plant ban signed by West Virginia Governor herald-dispatch.com
Nuclear facilities could be built on former coal-fired plant sites wvnews.com
Completion of MBIR reactor brought forward world-nuclear-news.org
Nuclear submarines: First Devonport vessel for dismantling named bbc.com
Ambient office = 139 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 97 nanosieverts per hour
Romaine lettuce from Central Market = 106 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 103 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 90 nanosieverts per hour
U.S. Army Nuclear Disablement Teams conduct water survival training at U.S. Naval Academy dvidshub.net
Russia’s Lavrov: Long Way to Go Before Iran Nuclear Deal Can Be Revived usnews.com
Robot photos appear to show melted fuel at Fukushima reactor abcnews.com
Czech, Slovak firms cooperate on plant long-term operation world-nuclear-news.org
Ambient office = 136 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 102 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Red bell pepper from Central Market = 107 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 106 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 98 nanosieverts per hour
Cameco restarts Canadian uranium operation world-nuclear-news.org
Cruz, Senate Republicans threaten to block any Iran nuclear agreement not submitted to Congress foxnews.com
America’s only fatal reactor accident happened in Idaho 61 years ago eastidahonews.com
Ukraine crisis raises doubts about Fennovoima nuclear project yle.fi
Ambient office = 52 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 126 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 122 nanosieverts per hour
Iceberg lettuce from Central Market = 73 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 104 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 96 nanosieverts per hour
Dover sole = 98 nanosieverts per hour
Part 2 of 2 Parts
Silicon carbide is a type of engineered ceramic that is already used in armor for tanks and specialized electronics and aerospace applications. However, forging the complicated shapes of nuclear reactor components with such ceramics is extremely difficult when utilizing conventional methods such as machining in which excess ceramic is ground away or casting in which molten materials are poured into a mold.
The new 3D printing technique pioneered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory combines binder jet printing with a special ceramic production process that will allow USNC to print complex geometric shapes from silicon carbide.
Adopting this new 3D printing technique will permit faster and more economical production of reactor components. It should also allow USNC to realize the design of new complex geometries for certain parts that were previously impossible with the old production techniques.
Kurt Terrani is the executive vice president of USNC’s Core division. He said, “USNC’s value proposition is summarized in two points designing inherently safe and highly advanced nuclear-energy systems that are fueled with highly safe and temperature-resistant materials.”
The recently licensed 3D printing technique will be a key part of USNC’s manufacturing process. The company will use it to produce the silicon carbide shells for its nuclear fuel particles. It will also use the new techniques to produce nonfuel structural components for its new reactors. The advanced ceramic-based reactor systems should be safer than traditional reactors that primarily use metallic components.
Terrani says, “Silicon carbide 3D printing is a new technology that offers new possibilities, but it will also require thorough vetting to ensure the resulting materials and their performance meet strict nuclear licensing and regulatory requirements.” The Oak Ridge lab’s researchers have extensively tested these new 3D printed materials outside of and inside of operating nuclear reactors in recent years.
3D printing is not new to the nuclear industry. In 2017, Siemens became the first company to install a 3D printed part in a nuclear power reactor. The new component was a small metallic part for a fire-protection water pump used at a plant in Slovenia. Since then, other members of the nuclear industry have installed bigger 3D printed parts in commercial nuclear reactors. In 2020, Westinghouse installed a 3D printed fuel system component in Exelon’s nuclear power plant in Illinois. In 2021, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry plant in Alabama received four 3D printed stainless-steel fuel assembly brackets. These brackets were printed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE) Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
The ORNL is really pushing the envelope with its ambitious plant to construct an entirely 3D printed nuclear reactor core. The demonstration unit of the Transformational Challenge Reactor is scheduled to be operational by 2024. Terrani is the former technical director of the TCR program.
Ambient office = 66 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 133 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 133 nanosieverts per hour
Garlic bulb from Central Market = 90 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 81 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 70 nanosieverts per hour
Ukrainians prepare for war at the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster cnn.com cnn.com
Russian PIK research reactor upgraded world-nuclear-news.org
France’s nuclear ambitions take shape with turbine deal techxplor.com
Fermi sees Estonian interest in nuclear grow world-nuclear-news.org
Part 1 of 2 Parts
What is called “additive manufacture” (or 3D printing) has already been deployed in aerospace, medical, construction, nuclear industries and general manufacture. I have posted about 3D printing of nuclear reactor components before. This technique has stirred up a lot of interest in the nuclear industry. 3D printing is also being promoted as a key technology for producing small, safe next-generation nuclear reactors. Up to this point, 3D printed nuclear components have been printed from metals.
The latest example of 3D printing in the nuclear industry comes from Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) based in Seattle. According to their website, USNC “will provide hardware and services for reliable energy anywhere on Earth or in Space. We are further utilizing our design, licensing, and technology capabilities, such as ceramic additive manufacturing and proprietary sintering techniques, to develop nuclear power systems for advanced applications on earth and in space. These include Transportable Power Units, Nuclear Thermal Propulsion and Lunar Surface Power systems.”
USNC has licensed a new 3D printing technique from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The new method will allow the USNC to create nuclear reactor components with technical ceramics that are much more resistant to radiation and extreme temperatures than previous 3D printed metal parts. This allows them to speed up the development of safe, affordable next-generation reactors.
USNC is making micro modular reactors (MMR). MMRs will produce five to ten megawatts of electricity. USNC says that its MMR reactors will deliver safe, clear, and cost effective electricity anywhere. It is the first “fission battery” to be commercialized. Multiple MMRs can be linked together to provide as much power as needed. MMRs do not require a source of cooling water and they do not need to be connected to an electrical grid. They will be able to withstand conditions from the frigid arctic to burning desserts. Demonstration units are scheduled to be available by 2024. They say that the new 3D printing technique should allow them to deploy reactors that cost tens of millions of dollars instead of the billions of dollars required to deploy today’s big conventionally constructed nuclear power reactors.
UNSC is also developing compact nuclear reactors for nuclear powered rockets. Nuclear Thermal propulsion (NTP) systems operate by heating a gas such as hydrogen with a nuclear fission reactor and expanding the gas through a nozzle to produce efficient thrust. Such nuclear engines will operate only in space and never in the atmosphere of the Earth. The UNSC NTP engine is about the size of a big trashcan. It can propel payloads that are up to ten times the size that are possible with conventional chemical propulsion engine. These new engines are expected to be cheap, fast and able to carry big payloads.
Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel will provide a new approach to inherent reactor safety by provided an ultimately safe fuel. Industry standard TRISO fuel contains the radioactive byproducts of fission inside layered ceramic coatings. They, in turn, are encases in a fully dense silicon carbide matrix. This combination provides an extremely stable and rugged fuel with extremely high temperature stability.
Please read Part 2 next
