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China Details Next-Gen Nuclear Reactor Program (in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy)
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/542526/china-details-next-gen-nuclear-reactor-program/[font face=Serif][font size=5]China Details Next-Gen Nuclear Reactor Program[/font]
[font size=4]China, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, says it will deploy advanced nuclear reactors commercially by 2030.[/font]
By Richard Martin on October 16, 2015
[font size=3]A group of nuclear scientists and entrepreneurs gathered this week at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee, to observe the 50th anniversary of the molten-salt reactor experiment—a program carried out at Oak Ridge in the 1960s to build a novel nuclear reactor. Molten-salt reactors use liquid, rather than solid fuel rods, as the fuel to produce the nuclear reactions that heat water to make steam and, in turn, electricity. They have several advantages over conventional light-water reactors in terms of safety, anti-proliferation, and economics, and are enjoying a renaissance as the world searches for sources of low-cost, low-carbon energy.
The 50th anniversary workshop, which included presentations from reactor developers including TerraPower, Flibe Energy, Moltex Energy, and Terrestrial Energy, as well as the large utility Southern Power, marked the largest and most significant gathering to date of the people working to bring this innovative yet decades-old technology to commercialization.
Among the presenters was Xu Hongjie, the director of the molten-salt reactor program at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics. Under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, SINAP is collaborating with Oak Ridge to advance research on both salt-cooled reactors (which use molten salts to transfer heat and to cool the reactor) and salt-fueled reactors (in which the fuel, where the energy-producing nuclear reactions occur, is dissolved within the salt coolant). Signed in December 2011, the Shanghai-Oak Ridge effort has been the subject of controversy and speculation among the nuclear power community, particularly those promoting advanced technologies such as molten-salt reactors and the use of thorium, an alternative nuclear fuel that is cleaner, safer, and more abundant than uranium.
At Oak Ridge this week, Xu outlined a roadmap that shows that China is further along than any other advanced reactor R&D program in the world. China, which still gets nearly three-quarters of its electricity from burning coal, is racing to develop low-carbon energy sources, including both conventional nuclear plants and advanced systems such as molten-salt reactors. The largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, China aims to more than double its nuclear capacity by 2020, according to the World Nuclear Association.
…[/font][/font]
[font size=4]China, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, says it will deploy advanced nuclear reactors commercially by 2030.[/font]
By Richard Martin on October 16, 2015
[font size=3]A group of nuclear scientists and entrepreneurs gathered this week at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee, to observe the 50th anniversary of the molten-salt reactor experiment—a program carried out at Oak Ridge in the 1960s to build a novel nuclear reactor. Molten-salt reactors use liquid, rather than solid fuel rods, as the fuel to produce the nuclear reactions that heat water to make steam and, in turn, electricity. They have several advantages over conventional light-water reactors in terms of safety, anti-proliferation, and economics, and are enjoying a renaissance as the world searches for sources of low-cost, low-carbon energy.
The 50th anniversary workshop, which included presentations from reactor developers including TerraPower, Flibe Energy, Moltex Energy, and Terrestrial Energy, as well as the large utility Southern Power, marked the largest and most significant gathering to date of the people working to bring this innovative yet decades-old technology to commercialization.
Among the presenters was Xu Hongjie, the director of the molten-salt reactor program at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics. Under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, SINAP is collaborating with Oak Ridge to advance research on both salt-cooled reactors (which use molten salts to transfer heat and to cool the reactor) and salt-fueled reactors (in which the fuel, where the energy-producing nuclear reactions occur, is dissolved within the salt coolant). Signed in December 2011, the Shanghai-Oak Ridge effort has been the subject of controversy and speculation among the nuclear power community, particularly those promoting advanced technologies such as molten-salt reactors and the use of thorium, an alternative nuclear fuel that is cleaner, safer, and more abundant than uranium.
At Oak Ridge this week, Xu outlined a roadmap that shows that China is further along than any other advanced reactor R&D program in the world. China, which still gets nearly three-quarters of its electricity from burning coal, is racing to develop low-carbon energy sources, including both conventional nuclear plants and advanced systems such as molten-salt reactors. The largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, China aims to more than double its nuclear capacity by 2020, according to the World Nuclear Association.
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3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
BTW I was looking for this graph (it goes along with the article above).
See also:
Joe Romm at Think Progress introduces the study:
Exclusive analysis, Part 1: The staggering cost of new nuclear power
JAN 5, 2009
A new study puts the generation costs for power from new nuclear plants at from 25 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour — triple current U.S. electricity rates!
This staggering price is far higher than the cost of a variety of carbon-free renewable power sources available today — and ten times the cost of energy efficiency....
The new study, Business Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power, is one of the most detailed cost analyses publically available on the current generation of nuclear power plants being considered in this country. It is by a leading expert in power plant costs, Craig A. Severance. A practicing CPA, Severance is co-author of The Economics of Nuclear and Coal Power (Praeger 1976), and former Assistant to the Chairman and to Commerce Counsel, Iowa State Commerce Commission.
This important new analysis is being published by Climate Progress because it fills a critical gap in the current debate over nuclear power — transparency. Severance explains:
As stunning as this new, detailed cost estimate is, it should not come as a total surprise...
This staggering price is far higher than the cost of a variety of carbon-free renewable power sources available today — and ten times the cost of energy efficiency....
The new study, Business Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power, is one of the most detailed cost analyses publically available on the current generation of nuclear power plants being considered in this country. It is by a leading expert in power plant costs, Craig A. Severance. A practicing CPA, Severance is co-author of The Economics of Nuclear and Coal Power (Praeger 1976), and former Assistant to the Chairman and to Commerce Counsel, Iowa State Commerce Commission.
This important new analysis is being published by Climate Progress because it fills a critical gap in the current debate over nuclear power — transparency. Severance explains:
All assumptions, and methods of calculation are clearly stated. The piece is a deliberate effort to demystify the entire process, so that anyone reading it (including non-technical readers) can develop a clear understanding of how total generation costs per kWh come together.
As stunning as this new, detailed cost estimate is, it should not come as a total surprise...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2009/01/05/202859/study-cost-risks-new-nuclear-power-plants/
Their link is dead but the paper is available here:
http://www.nirs.org/neconomics/nuclearcosts2009.pdf
