Currently there are generation III reactors online commercially. gen III+ currently under construction, with generation IV predicted to come on line as early as 2020
Researchers around the world have been working frantically to develop an array of materials and fibers able to economically extract uranium from seawater. They have succeeded, as discussed at a conference devoted to the topic.
Itās still twice as expensive to extract from seawater which is why it isnāt currently being done, but A) the price should come down and B) if we chose to do it that way it would only add a very small increase to the price of electricity produced by nuclear plants, like a small fraction of a cent per KwH produced.
Gary Gill, deputy director of PNNLās Coastal Sciences Division who coordinated the marine testing, noted, āUnderstanding how the adsorbents perform under natural seawater conditions is critical to reliably assessing how well the uranium adsorbent materials work.ā In addition to marine testing, PNNL assessed how well the adsorbent attracted uranium versus other elements, how durable the adsorbent was, how buildup of marine organisms might impact performance, and which adsorbent materials are not toxic.
This marine testing shows that these new fibers had the capacity to hold 6 grams of uranium per kilogram of adsorbent in only about 50 days in natural seawater. A nice video of U extraction from seawater can be seen on the University of Tennessee Knoxville website.
Again, yes, itās twice as expensive, but itās not a big deal because the price of fuel is a tiny fraction of the cost of nuclear power. It has been demonstrated to work in the real world and the current cost is known, there is no reason to believe it couldnāt be scaled up to meet demand.
Even if itās ten times the predicted cost it would only add a less than a penny per KwH to the price of nuclear energy. And I canāt see any reason their cost estimates would be that far out of line.
How much do you know about the process to produce and deploy these? I suspect very little so Iām not terribly concerned if you canāt see any reason give your (and mine) lack of knowledgeable in the area. Im just going off trends.
Sorta like the promised cost of these nuclear power plants which always seems to balloon out of control. Which is why there are so few of them.
Nope. The diversion started when you took issue with me saying that āimprovementā is a human construct. The China thing was just you acting out with your dander up.
This an open discussion. It is not possible to insert oneself between two other posters. We are all in this together, equally, with just as much right to voice an opinion on any matter posted as any other member ā¦ even you.
The problem at Fukushima was not the design of the nuclear plant, the problem was not anticipating a 15 meter tsunami inundating their emergency power generators and the lack of a plan B when they failed.
No, it was an outdated design, a modern reactor could have survived it, they are walk away designs now. As in the power can go off line and they wonāt melt down.
I was under the impression that during a SCRAM you have to keep the coolant pumps running by any means necessary otherwise the core temp will rise beyond design limits due to decay heat in the core. Thatās why they are connected to mains and have backup diesel or gas turbine generators on site so that the pumps will continue working.
The energy to run the pumps has to come from somewhere.