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.
Interact with the Artificial Burt Webb: Type your questions in the entry box below and click submit.
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.
Russia says it may take extra nuclear deterrence steps if US puts missiles in Europe/Asia yahoo.com
Iran’s Nuclear Threat Escalates as US, European Allies Appear at Odds iranintl.com
Think tank close to Kremlin says Russia should consider a ‘demonstrative’ nuclear explosion yahoo.com
White House makes push for large nuclear reactors eenews.net
Ambient office = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 105 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 108 nanosieverts per hour
Blueberry from Central Market = 112 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 88 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 80 nanosieverts per hour
The consultation draft of the 2023-24 GenCost report released today confirms that firmed renewables are the cheapest form of reliable energy in Australia now and to 2030. The GenCost report is an annual collaboration between Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
The new report further proves that the Albanese Government’s plan to deliver a cheaper, cleaner and more reliable grid through the expanded Capacity Investment Scheme, Rewiring the Nation, and the Gas Code is the cheapest and best path for our country as aging and increasingly unreliable coal-fired power continues to be retire.
The report shows that utility-scale solar and onshore wind costs including transmission and storage, are two to seven times cheaper than new coal and small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). This reflects Australia’s huge natural advantage in renewable resources.
Solar energy continues to put downward pressure on energy prices. The recent seventy one percent drop in wholesale prices per year is due in large part to increased rooftop solar.
AEMO’s roadmap for the future Australian grid, the Integrated System Plan (ISP) released last week, also confirms that a renewable grid with hydro, batteries, flexible gas and transmission is the cheapest way to deliver a secure and reliable energy grid.
The Australian Government is expanding the successful Capacity Investment Scheme to deliver thirty-two gigawatts of new capacity for the long-term reliable, affordable and low-emissions energy system Australians deserve. Rewiring the Nation deals with NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and WA which are unlocking and keeping a lid on prices for the necessary transmission build.
The LNP’s approach in Government was to watch as twenty-four aging coal plants providing a total of twenty-seven gigawatts announced closure dates with no plan for replacement.
Their current ‘plan’ is to halt all new renewable and transmission development at the same time AEMO forecasts ninety percent of aging and increasingly unreliable coal plant will retire by 2035. They are to be replaced by SMR technology, which CSIRO and AEMO find can’t reach first full operation until 2038 at the earliest.
The Draft GenCost report also provides detailed examples of real world nuclear SMR development. This includes cost blow outs of seventy percent. However, there is currently not a single commercial SMR project anywhere in the world.
The latest GenCost report reiterates what is already known. Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy in Australia now and in 2030, even when accounting for storage and transmission costs. The report states that “The Albanese Government is making sure more households and businesses have access to abundant, affordable renewables. After a decade of vandalism and neglect of Australia’s energy grid by the LNP, the Albanese Government is on a unity ticket with our grid operators – to deliver a secure, reliable and affordable grid with firmed renewables. CSIRO’s report also shows that renewables, particularly wind and solar, remain frontrunners as Australia’s cheapest and most effective options to deliver a reliable grid to continue to power Australian industry and households. Cheaper renewable energy generation means more clean-green jobs for Australians. We’ve set aside $3 billion in the National Reconstruction Fund to support the growth of Australia’s renewable and low-emissions energy industries and meet growing demand in international supply chains.”
CSIRO and AEMO intend to release the final report in mid-2024.
Tri-Valley Energy Provider Will Decide Whether to Add Nuclear Power to Mix independentnews.com
South Africa inaugurates ‘first of its kind’ nuclear medicine hub researchprofessionalnews.com
Taiwan’s Government Open to Possibility of Continuing Nuclear Power menastar.com
Slovenia estimates cost of JEK2 nuclear new build project neimagazine.com
Ambient office = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 76 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 73 nanosieverts per hour
Avocado from Central Market = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 79 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 64 nanosieverts per hour
DOE unveils process for Russian LEU import waivers world-nuclear-news.org
Study to assess benefits of Hartlepool SMR plant world-nuclear-news.org
First Portable Nuclear Microreactor Publicly Listed in the U.S., Pledges Support to the World Nuclear Association’s Net Zero Nuclear Industry Initiative globenewswire.com
Ambient office = 98 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 157 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 161 nanosieverts per hour
Tomato from Central Market = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 140 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 129 nanosieverts per hour
ITER cryopump passes factory acceptance tests neimagazine.com
Fuel loading completed at France’s Flamanville 3 EPR world-nuclear-news.org
Innovative piping rehabilitation solution to be used at US plant world-nuclear-news.org
IAEA’s Grossi highlights continued Zaporizhzhia power supply concerns world-nuclear-news.org
Ambient office = 109 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 163 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 164 nanosieverts per hour
Red bell pepper from Central Market = 82 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 85 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 70 nanosieverts per hour
Dover Sole from Central = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Hydrogen can be produced for less than $1.72 per pound using a combination of solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) and small modular reactors (SMRs). A new study led by Dutch nuclear energy development company ULC-Energy BV has concluded that this is significantly cheaper than alternative methods.
In November of 2023, ULC-Energy announced it had signed an agreement with Denmark’s Topsoe, the UK’s Rolls-Royce SMR and Dutch energy market consultancy KYOS to jointly research the production of hydrogen using Topsoe’s SOEC technology with both electricity and heat produced by a Rolls-Royce SMR nuclear power plant.
The joint investigation was to include an evaluation of the operational flexibility of the Rolls-Royce SMR when combined with Topsoe’s proprietary SOEC technology in the future energy market.
ULC-Energy recently announced the results of the study. They said that the study had revealed significant advantages of the SMR-SOEC combination. A Rolls-Royce SMR power plant can operate 24/7, with ninety five percent availability. SOEC electrolysis can produce more hydrogen per total power input when it is compared with conventional electrolyzer technologies. Steam can be supplied directly from the nuclear power plant heat exchangers. Hydrogen production can take place off-grid.
The results revealed that hydrogen can be produced this way for less than $1.60 per pound and that this cost can be driven down to less than $.90 per pound by 2050 “by taking into account the value of the flexibility to curtail hydrogen production and deliver electricity to an increasingly intermittent grid”.
This research also indicated that the SMR–SOEC combination produces the highest annual quantity of hydrogen as a result of higher process efficiency and a high availability.
Dirk Rabelink is CEO of ULC-Energy. He said, “The large-scale production of clean hydrogen is an extremely important driver of decarbonization. At ULC-Energy we believe strongly that nuclear can and will play a major role to produce clean hydrogen and derivative clean fuels.”
Rabelink continued, “The study that is now completed clearly demonstrates the capability of nuclear to deliver low-cost, clean hydrogen at an industrial scale. Importantly, it also shows the additional value associated with the flexibility to switch between energy markets such as electricity, heat and, in this case, hydrogen. Topsoe SOEC and Rolls-Royce SMR are both highly modularized solutions that are factory manufactured and can be scaled rapidly.”
Alan Woods is Rolls-Royce SMR’s Director of Strategy and Business Development. He said, “Rolls-Royce SMR believes one of its powerful advantages is that it can produce clean energy cheaply and extremely reliably, but can also direct its output to meet demand. This operational flexibility will be increasingly valuable as intermittent energy sources, such as wind and solar, expand. We are excited by the results of ULC-Energy’s study and look forward to taking next steps.”
In August 2022, Rolls-Royce SMR signed an exclusive agreement with ULC-Energy to cooperate on the deployment of Rolls-Royce SMR power plants in the Netherlands. ULC-Energy was established in 2021 and is based in Amsterdam. They aim to accelerate decarbonization in the Netherlands by developing nuclear energy projects that efficiently integrate with residential and industrial energy networks in the country.
