[EnergySpin]

Well,
I decided that the people who call for decentralized small energy systems are right : small is beatiful. And nothing is smaller and more beautiful than this baby
A portable 100MW lead cooled breeder reactor ... weighting close to 500 tons; its dimensions are 15 meters high and 3 meters wide.
For comparison, a 4.5MW wind turbine (like the one I have as an avatar) weights more than 450 tons , and is 90+ meters high.
Even though this reactor has not been built yet, similar reactors (like the 4S by Toshiba) have been built and have been operated successfully. One of them is about to be installed in Alaska. Consider this reactor as an attempt to improve upon existing designs and not as something that is years down the road.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')SSTAR also offers potential cost reductions over conventional nuclear reactors. Using lead or lead–bismuth as a cooling material instead of water eliminates the large, high-pressure vessels and piping needed to contain the reactor coolant. The low pressure of the lead coolant also allows for a more compact reactor because the steam generator can be incorporated into the reactor vessel. Plus with no refueling downtime and no spent fuel rods to be managed, the reactor can produce energy continuously and with fewer personnel.

[Comp_Lex]

WE'RE SAVED!!!! I'm gonna buy one today and put it in my backyard!

[EnergySpin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Comp_Lex', 'W')E'RE SAVED!!!! I'm gonna buy one today and put it in my backyard!

[coyote]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergySpin', 'T')his type of reactor is targetted for 3rd world countries. US+Japan will deploy the reactor and collect it after 30 years to recycle the fuel (the reactor does not need to be refueled in the interim period).

[lardlad]

The idiots promoting breeder reactors on this forum are such a waste of bandwidth. Yes, what we need is nuclear weapon proliferation on a giant scale! Unbelievable stupidity.

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lardlad', 'T')he idiots promoting breeder reactors on this forum are such a waste of bandwidth. Yes, what we need is nuclear weapon proliferation on a giant scale! Unbelievable stupidity.

[ubercynicmeister]

STIRRER!

I think that you have a point in what you say about the dismissiveness about technology - one of the things about technology is it's UNambiguous - it either does or it does not. If (and it's a damn big if, too) if we investigate the "alternatives" to Oil, then we'll come up with some answers fairly smartly as to what - if anything - can be done as regards Energy & it's future or lack thereof.

But even the most optimistic of the techno-fixers have to admit: we're not doing the looking, in any serious way. Oh, sure a few eccentrics are tinkering at the edges - I should know, I'm one of 'em. But we have to look before we can find.

And - as a civilisation - we're not looking.

Can technology "fix" Peak Oil? Well, it could - given the chance - stop it from turning into Peak Energy. At least that's what I, personally, beleive. If someone were to challenge me on that belief, I would have to admit it's ONLY a belief, it's not proven, certainly.

I also think that the longer we delay, obfuscate, procrastinate, demurre, defer, prorogue, postpone, dawdle, protract or otherwise put-off "looking", we increase our chances of technology not having the time to come up with solutions.

It's all about time...and how much we have of it.

[EnergySpin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergySpin', 'O')ne of them is about to be installed in Alaska.

[billp]

Honda fit or jazz.

http://www.prosefights.org/msd/msd.htm

[EnergySpin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', ' ')unfortunately neither life nor toys are like that. There are lots of ambiguous gadgets out there-cold fusion, biofuels, guns, automobiles, and rocks to name a few. It is what people do with their stuff that imparts value to them--not to mention their particular eroei.

[EnergySpin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'T')his from the doe website you linked to. The device has not been certified.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '4')S Toshiba Sodium-cooled No application decision

[Andy]

You know something, I guess we should relax and enjoy life while it is good. Humans are incapable of dealing with issues on the scale that sustainanbility demands. We simply are not genetically programmed to do it. When our backs are against the wall, we are going to burn coal like there is no tomorrow, we are going to make a valiant effort with nuclear and to hell with safety and health standards, we are going to ramp up tar sands, we are going to clear the forests for biofuels, we are going to poison our life support system from every angle known etc. etc. We just will have to wait for nature to sort things out for us. It may happen in our lifetime or it may take longer but it will certainly happen. It may very well end up meaning that we are extinguished from the planet. Hence, let us relax!!!

A question for the people who propose nuclear and particularly breeders especially for unstable developing countries. Are the breeders immune to sabotage? Can a local or regional conflict cause damage that allows the escape of radionuclides with commonly available weaponry? Will we 2, 3, 4, 500 years from now have all the material and organizational competence to safely handle the entire process? Will we have proper documentation of what was done even 100 years before. Remember, the United States of America is not even 300 years old, a human lives on average 70 - 80 years in optimum conditions etc. etc. Another question, will nuclear technology render the other critical environmental issues moot? I speak of soil availability, water quality, deforestation etc. etc., all a consequence of our excessive population numbers?

Another question, is nuclear the only technology that can provide energy at the requisite scale and cost? If you answer yes, you have not done your homework. Wind already provides electricity for costs ranging from 3- 9 US c/KWH including offshore technology. The high value of 8 - 9 c/KWH is the low value for nuclear. Concentrating solar thermal costs between 8 and 13 cents with costs likely to fall, the opposite of which is likely true for nuclear when the intractable civil defence and waste/fuel issues are contemplated. Any attempt to minimize those costs simply tranfers it from internalized to external (health, military). Energy efficiency costs as low as 1 c/KWH and the potential is as much as 30 - 50% of existing energy consumption. Concentrating photovoltaic technology is threatening to cost near 10 c/KWH at the retail site in high solar areas, already distributed. (Read about 39% efficient Spectrolab cells on their way to 41% and more)

I have not even mentioned wave, tidal, ocean thermal which have not been given an equitable share of research resources and thus are not yet market ready. A British acknowledgement recently came out that for example the anticipated cost of electricity from the Salter Duck wave energy device was maliciously stated at several times the likely real cost. The suspects were the traditional nuclear and fossil establishment. I could go on and on but the post is already too long.

[frankthetank]

If there hauling these things by ship, they better have one of these along...



Until i see some serious action here in the US, like bricks ACTUALLY being laid, i'm staying in the doomer camp. I think nuclear has amazing potential, but no one seems to be serious about actually building new ones in this country.

[SchroedingersCat]

Sorry Energy Spin, I wish your dreams were realities but the facts are that liquid sodium cooled reactors still have serious economic, technical and safety issues. The economic issues will soon become moot, but the technical and safety problems need to be solved.

Constant irradiation of the highly exotic alloys inside even a water cooled reactor eventually degrades the metal. The slightest flaw in a weld in the interior of a reactor can cause a leak. With water or steam, it's bad enough. With liquid sodium, it is always a catastrophe.

Even though it might be possible for us to make these things safe and reliable, there is no reason to believe that it will happen.

[Dezakin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')onstant irradiation of the highly exotic alloys inside even a water cooled reactor eventually degrades the metal. The slightest flaw in a weld in the interior of a reactor can cause a leak. With water or steam, it's bad enough. With liquid sodium, it is always a catastrophe.

[lakeweb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ubercynicmeister', 'C')an technology "fix" Peak Oil? Well, it could - given the chance - stop it from turning into Peak Energy. At least that's what I, personally, beleive. If someone were to challenge me on that belief, I would have to admit it's ONLY a belief, it's not proven, certainly.