nuclearforfuture:bigwordsandsharpedges:This liquid-fuelled reactor design can’t go into core meltdow
nuclearforfuture:bigwordsandsharpedges:This liquid-fuelled reactor design can’t go into core meltdown because the core is already melted. If it overheads, it simply dumps all the radioactive parts into a big shielded bucket where it cool back down and the reaction stops. This safety mechanism requires no power or human intervention. We already tested this design back in 1965 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Their test reactor operated until 1969 without any problems. However, the design was never adopted for two reasons. First of all, nuclear power is tightly regulated and it’s a real pain to get any new technology approved. Both the government and the existing nuclear power companies have invested heavily in keeping what they already use. Second of all, it was the middle of the Cold War. The government wanted to focus on dual-purpose technology that could also be used to build nuclear weapons. The liquid core reactor runs on thorium, which is four times more common than uranium, is safer to mine and store, and leaves very little waste. However, thorium is also very bad for making bombs. It’s not impossible, but they US tried a thorium bomb and completely hated it. It was difficult to handle safely and could be detected from very far away. That’s the one and only reason why we’re not using this technology today. To be clear, this is a source of energy that’s 100% carbon neutral, 100% meltdown-proof, and 100% useless for a nuclear weapons program. We already have large stockpiles as a “waste product” of heavy metal refinery. Using it as fuel produces small quantities of short-lived waste: the longest lasting waste product becomes safe after ~300 years, and it also has commercial purposes as an industrial radiation source or for cancer radiation therapy.Additionally, it generates power directly from the relatively high heat of the core, no steam turbine needed. Historically, locations for reactors have been limited to places near water for the cooling system. This reactor doesn’t need any water nearby.In the event of deliberate sabotage, the reactor still won’t blow up. It may run on relatively high heat, but it also runs on relatively low pressure. Like, lower than the pressure cooker in your kitchen. Even if someone punched a hole in it, you would get an easily contained garden hose spray, not explosive decompression. Oh, and I almost forgot: this type of reactor can be built as a “waste burner”. It could consume existing high-level nuclear waste, the stuff that would remain dangerous for 10 thousand years. That stuff last for so long because traditional nuclear power is not fuel efficient at all. Over 90% of a “spent” fuel rod is still enriched uranium.It would generate power by breaking those atoms down into different, less radioactive atoms, until the only thing left is that 300 year waste. Meltdown risk? Problem solved.Sabotage risk? Problem solved.Nuclear proliferation risk? Problem solved.Long term waste storage? Problem solved.Location limitations? Problem solved.But we’re not using it for political reasons that should have ended when the Cold War ended. The only ones pushing forward with this design are India and China, and they didn’t steal it. Oak Ridge scientists deliberately gave them our old research in the hopes that somebody in the world would unlock the limitless zero-emissions energy source, instead of the US government hiding it forever. If nuclear energy wasn’t the best choice at our disposal before, with the advent of Generation IV reactors it is clearly our best option. Not only will we receive safe, carbon-free energy at all hours of the day, but this can also be our best bet for defeating climate change.This is to the hope that we can collectively recognize the benefits of nuclear energy and make the transition to it before it’s too late. -- source link