New Age Nuclear (Thorium is safer & cleaner)

Cosmos Magazine ^

[BlackJack]

Nuclear energy produces no greenhouse gases, but it has many drawbacks. Now a radical new technology based on thorium promises what uranium never delivered: abundant, safe and clean energy - and a way to burn up old radioactive waste.

What if we could build a nuclear reactor that offered no possibility of a meltdown, generated its power inexpensively, created no weapons-grade by-products, and burnt up existing high-level waste as well as old nuclear weapon stockpiles?

And what if the waste produced by such a reactor was radioactive for a mere few hundred years rather than tens of thousands? It may sound too good to be true, but such a reactor is indeed possible, and a number of teams around the world are now working to make it a reality. What makes this incredible reactor so different is its fuel source: thorium.

[SierraWasp]

Mrs. Wasp has an elderly Uncle that worked at Oakridge. A few replies ago you said “Hannaford.” Did you mean to say Hanford, like in Hanford, WA? (not trying to be a smark-alec, just wanting to be sure I didn’t misunderstand)

[HangnJudge]

OK OK I can’t spell
pitifully inept at the expressive arts...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site

[SierraWasp]

No! No! Don’t take it that way!!! I wasn’t pokin sticks at you, yer honor! I purposely mis-spell stuff just to make the spelling police upset. It’s ok...

[HangnJudge]

Heh, Heh, Heh

I’ve done it myself frequently
Being from East Tennessee, I find people assume that those with Southern Appalachian accents are uncouth and stupid. I often play on it in a process called low-balling

When people “figger” they got you triangulated
You then use a few sentences of 6 syllable words and high level concepts. The are then forcefully reoriented, then you have their full attention...

[HangnJudge]

Heh, Heh, Heh

I’ve done it myself frequently
Being from East Tennessee, I find people assume that those with Southern Appalachian accents are uncouth and stupid. I often play on it in a process called low-balling

When people “figger” they got you triangulated
You then use a few sentences of 6 syllable words and high level concepts. The are then forcefully reoriented, then you have their full attention...

[BlackJack]

Thanks for the info!

[sefarkas]

The prototype for Clinch River was Enrico Fermi Unit 1.

On December 20, 1951, the fast reactor EBR-I (Experimental Breeder Reactor-1) at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho produced enough electricity to power four light bulbs, and the next day produced enough power to run the entire EBR-I building. This was a milestone in the development of nuclear power reactors.

The next generation experimental breeder was EBR-II (Experimental Breeder Reactor-2), which went into service at the INEEL in 1964 and operated until 1994. It was designed to be an "integral" nuclear plant, equipped to handle fuel recycling onsite. It typically operated at 20 megawatts out of its 62.5 megawatt maximum design power, and provided the bulk of heat and electricity to the surrounding facilities.

The world's first commercial LMFBR, and the only one yet built in the USA, was the 94MWe Unit 1 at Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station. Designed in a joint effort between Dow Chemical and Detroit Edison as part of the Atomic Power Development Association consortium, groundbreaking in Lagoona Beach, Michigan (near Monroe, Michigan) took place in 1956. The plant went into operation in 1963. It shut down on October 5, 1966 due to high temperatures caused by a loose piece of zirconium which was blocking the molten sodium coolant nozzles. Partial melting damage to six subassemblies within the core was eventually found. (This incident was the basis for a controversial book by investigative reporter John G. Fuller titled We Almost Lost Detroit.) The zirconium blockage was removed in April of 1968, and the plant was ready to resume operation by May of 1970, but a sodium coolant fire delayed its restart until July. It subsequently ran until August of 1972 when its operating license renewal was denied.

The Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project was announced in January, 1972. A government/business cooperative effort, construction proceeded fitfully. Funding for this project was killed by Congress on October 26, 1983.

The Fast Flux Test Facility, first critical in 1980, is not a breeder but is a sodium-cooled fast reactor. It is now (2005) in cold standby.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_breeder_reactor

[HangnJudge]

Thanks for the info!

El gusto es mío

In my prior life, I learned a few useful facts about stuff like this

And for your viewing pleasure
A windmill farm in the Windrocks of East Tenn

[MikeD]

And thank you Bill Clinton for shutting down the last US breeder reactor at Idaho National Labs. Now, they have to restart it if we want to build more RTGs for spacecraft. New Horizons was launched with leftover fuel from the Cassini probe (launched many years ago), and I think some fuel bought from Russia.