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OT Engineers — Sodium Cooled Nuclear Reactors
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:38 am
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:38 am
Bill Gates is on TV touting “third generation” nuclear reactors.
When asked about safety, he says these are safe because they are cooled by sodium instead of water.
Last I checked, sodium combusts when exposed to air and water. Water has never ever ignited.
Is this just a bunch of hooey? That doesn’t sound real safe.
When asked about safety, he says these are safe because they are cooled by sodium instead of water.
Last I checked, sodium combusts when exposed to air and water. Water has never ever ignited.
Is this just a bunch of hooey? That doesn’t sound real safe.
This post was edited on 6/16/24 at 10:39 am
14
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:42 am to RanchoLaPuerto
You think he's trying to trick the nuclear design engineers into using something that will cause a disaster?
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:44 am to RanchoLaPuerto
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:45 am to RanchoLaPuerto
He just wants some of those nuclear tax credits because he only wants all us poors to pay taxes.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:46 am to Tree_Fall
quote:
Unsolved problem with reactors is safe disposal of spent fuel.
Launch those frickers into the sun on Elon's Starship. The fact that we're not 100% nuclear at this point is a travesty.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:49 am to billjamin
This might be the one thing he’s in favor of that could benefit humanity. Nuclear power generation is the densest form available to us and doesn’t burn those pesky greenhouse gases the environmentalists are so concerned about.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:49 am to Worldly Bum
quote:
Launch those frickers into the sun on Elon's Starship. The fact that we're not 100% nuclear at this point is a travesty.
You want Nuclear units to handle the quick demand changes in the grid?
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:50 am to Worldly Bum
It's a good idea. But if a rocket explodes on take off. South Texas or Central Florida would be uninhabitable.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:55 am to nugget
quote:
You want Nuclear units to handle the quick demand changes in the grid?
I'm not sure what that means but there's plenty of nuclear power areas out there already. France is like 75% nuclear power. It's clean and the fuel last for a really long time. It's a no brainer.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 10:56 am to Napoleon
quote:
It's a good idea. But if a rocket explodes on take off. South Texas or Central Florida would be uninhabitable.
Launch from barges.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:00 am to Worldly Bum
That’s unfortunately not how the grid works. The independent system operator dispatches operating units of many different types. You need big base loaded nuclear units to power large portions of the grid, but you also need gas turbines and engines to handle the minute by minute “swings” of power usage on the grid. Nukes can’t do that. The wider the range of options on the grid, the better.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:00 am to RonLaFlamme
quote:
This might be the one thing he’s in favor of that could benefit humanity. Nuclear power generation is the densest form available to us and doesn’t burn those pesky greenhouse gases the environmentalists are so concerned about.
He should put his money where his mouth is. There’s no shortage of interest but a there is a shortage in capital to build them. He could fix that, but he prefers to play with other peoples money.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:00 am to Tree_Fall
quote:
A disadvantage of sodium is its chemical reactivity, which requires special precautions to prevent and suppress fires. If sodium comes into contact with water it reacts to produce sodium hydroxide and hydrogen, and the hydrogen burns in contact with air.
This is my concern.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:02 am to Turnblad85
quote:
You think he's trying to trick the nuclear design engineers into using something that will cause a disaster?
Of course not.
But every system ever built eventually fails in some unpredicted way.
His take was that we don’t need to worry about meltdowns because he is using sodium instead of water.
I don’t see that as being safer.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:03 am to Worldly Bum
quote:
France is like 75% nuclear power
It’s not that high. I think 40-50% max. And that’s about all it ever should be. Nuclear is hyper centralization. That’s not a good thing in addition to what others noted about demand fluctuations.
ETA I should probably clarify, I think that percentage is generated not installed peak capacity.
This post was edited on 6/16/24 at 11:06 am
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:03 am to Worldly Bum
quote:
Launch those frickers into the sun on Elon's Starship.
It’s actually really hard to launch anything into the Sun from Earth. Would be easier to send them into deep space.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:04 am to Worldly Bum
quote:
I'm not sure what that means but there's plenty of nuclear power areas out there already. France is like 75% nuclear power. It's clean and the fuel last for a really long time. It's a no brainer.
Plus, there is enough space at these facilities to safely store spend rods (waste) for decades [hint: they're doing that right now].
They need to put $ into the small scale (city level) reactors.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:07 am to RanchoLaPuerto
He should shut up and bring an expert with him to do the talking.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:08 am to udtiger
quote:
They need to put $ into the small scale (city level) reactors.
Never going to happen unless we indemnify the developers and operators. No city in the US is going to allow it. They’ll bury them in litigation until the investors pull out. I’ve seen it happen several times already.
Posted on 6/16/24 at 11:09 am to Napoleon
quote:then build it in South LA.
It's a good idea. But if a rocket explodes on take off. South Texas or Central Florida would be uninhabitable.
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