SMRs are hitting strong headwinds

[begreen]

As promising as Small Modular Reactors sound there are some big issues to solve. One is waste. They may create a lot more radioactive waste than conventional reactors and the US still does not have a good, long-term storage plan for this waste.

Smaller reactors may still have a big nuclear waste problem

The US needs to figure out what to do about its radioactive garbage.

arstechnica.com

The other elephant in the room is cost, which is growing quickly. The promise of low cost due to factory production is having trouble penciling out.

The Dream of Mini Nuclear Plants Hangs in the Balance

A cluster of reactors that are just 9 feet in diameter is supposed to start a nuclear energy resurgence. Mounting costs may doom the project.

www.wired.com

 

[woodgeek]

<--- this is my surprised face.

 

[EbS-P]

Cost over runs and waste storage for nuclear reactors…where have we heard this before??

 

[dznam]

As promising as Small Modular Reactors sound there are some big issues to solve. One is waste. They may create a lot more radioactive waste than conventional reactors and the US still does not have a good, long-term storage plan for this waste.

Smaller reactors may still have a big nuclear waste problem

The US needs to figure out what to do about its radioactive garbage.

arstechnica.com

The other elephant in the room is cost, which is growing quickly. The promise of low cost due to factory production is having trouble penciling out.

The Dream of Mini Nuclear Plants Hangs in the Balance

A cluster of reactors that are just 9 feet in diameter is supposed to start a nuclear energy resurgence. Mounting costs may doom the project.

www.wired.com

And exactly what is the issue with Yucca Mountain?

 

[stoveliker]

And exactly what is the issue with Yucca Mountain?

lol, it's in my backyard (say very few people, but enough to get it killed, in particular when you have the majority leader in the senate).

I thought that technically it was the best solution we would have (at least now and in the next few decades).

 

[dznam]

Lovely...

 

[ABMax24]

Put the waste back into the rock from which the uranium was originally mined. It's radioactive down there anyway, we've got a few empty uranium mines in northern Canada that could be filled back up.

 

[begreen]

Despite headwinds, Westinghouse announced the launch of their AP300 SMR today. It is based on the successful AP1000 reactor.

https://www.westinghousenuclear.com/energy-systems/ap300-smr

 

[begreen]

Cool short video of a SMR power module being forged.

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[DBoon]

Jeez, that's one big bicycle chain

 

[begreen]

Looks like an important production knot, the welding of the reactor, has been addressed with a novel process out of the UK.

https://newatlas.com/energy/nuclear-reactor-weld-one-day

 

[ABMax24]

Looks like an important production knot, the welding of the reactor, has been addressed with a novel process out of the UK.

https://newatlas.com/energy/nuclear-reactor-weld-one-day

I wonder what the material is that the pressure vessels are made from from?

A 10ft diameter vessel 8in thick is child's play for a standard vessel shop if its made out of common materials.

 

[stoveliker]

I wonder what the material is that the pressure vessels are made from from?

A 10ft diameter vessel 8in thick is child's play for a standard vessel shop if its made out of common materials.

some heterostructure of ferritic and austenitic steel. (Surprisingly conventional.)

 

[ABMax24]

some heterostructure of ferritic and austenitic steel. (Surprisingly conventional.)

So basically a grade of Duplex Stainless Steel?

 

[stoveliker]

no, two separate layers, rather than a microstructure alloy.
(Cladding rather than a mix)

As far as I remember from my (old fashioned) mat sci undergrad that included a lot of steel and a little nuclear applications.

(And I assume here that the field has not significantly changed from back then - consistent with the slow pace of change in this field...)

 

[begreen]

As noted in the initial posting, the cost of slow factory production has been a serious issue so far. If this shaves a year off of production time, that will be a major improvement.

 

[joop]

put nuclear waste on a rocket and shoot into space

 

[peakbagger]

Interesting article on two currently operational SMRs

A Closer Look at Two Operational Small Modular Reactor Designs

There are literally dozens of small modular reactor (SMR) and microreactor designs being developed by different companies around the world, and some of the work has been going on for decades. Yet, only two

www.yahoo.com

 

[EbS-P]

Interesting article on two currently operational SMRs

A Closer Look at Two Operational Small Modular Reactor Designs

There are literally dozens of small modular reactor (SMR) and microreactor designs being developed by different companies around the world, and some of the work has been going on for decades. Yet, only two

www.yahoo.com

It was neat that the Chinese pebble bed did not need to shut down for refueling. Both seem to be operating with really reduced reliability.

I just don’t see this going anywhere for grid power. We have proven solutions and they will get cheaper in the next decade. While costs of SMRs is an unknown at this point. I like the idea of nuclear but it really requires government backing and commitment at a large scale.

 

[woodgeek]

Interesting article on two currently operational SMRs

A Closer Look at Two Operational Small Modular Reactor Designs

There are literally dozens of small modular reactor (SMR) and microreactor designs being developed by different companies around the world, and some of the work has been going on for decades. Yet, only two

www.yahoo.com

If I did the math right, the Russian reactor, running 8000 hrs per year for 40 years would produce $560M worth of electricity if that was priced at 5 cents/kWh. Or equivalently, about $1M/month of operation.

I'm very curious what the construction cost alone (ignoring the operating and fuel costs) is for that unit, and whether $12M/yr would even pay the interest on the construction cost.

Ofc I get that it supplies power to remote arctic towns. But then that is its niche... power where other options are very expensive too.

 

[EbS-P]

So what I don’t understand is why we don’t leverage the reactor design for the Ford class carriers. 700 Mw fits on a boat (a big one). Design is done, it’s an operating reactor, parts are available and will be for the life of the boats.

I know they aren’t small but overhead has been paid for by the government.

A1B reactor - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[begreen]

Good question, I was wondering the same thing. We have been making them for ships and subs for a long time and they have a good track record.

 

[woodgeek]

presumably cost? I think they also run on higher enriched fuel?

 

[EbS-P]

presumably cost? I think they also run on higher enriched fuel?

True and true. But my point is government can contract and have built and maintain 100s of reactors why can’t we the people benefit from this technology. SMRs I don’t think have much future given the dropping price of wind solar and batteries. If I’m the name of grid reliability and security why don’t they offer a proven design to the public. App read that some new French vessels will have reactors that use the same fuel as their power grid reactors. Smart

Nuclear-Powered Ships | Nuclear Submarines - World Nuclear Association

Nuclear power and nuclear reactors used to power shipping, ice breakers, submarines. Floating nuclear power plants as mobile source of nuclear energy

world-nuclear.org

 

[stoveliker]

They will remain niche; that was their initial intent given the absence of economics of scale.
They might be useful for places like ornl, with their huge power consumption for the supercomputing and neutron work- provide a base load and modulate on top of that with the grid, without hogging the grid for all of their needs.