New reactor designs making progress

[wtmusic]

Self-Serve Reactor: Traveling-wave technology starts out with mostly "depleted" uranium (U-238) (a) — useless metal that's thrown out when traditional “enriched” uranium fuel (U-235) is created. A small amount of enriched uranium starts a heat-producing nuclear reaction. It ejects neutrons that meld with atoms of depleted uranium which, through a series of reactions, convert it into plutonium-239. The reaction moves like a wave (b) along the fuel, generating heat until all the uranium is spent (c) — a process that goes on for decades. Molten sodium metal (d) absorbs and carries away the heat to boil water and drive a steam turbine .

"Bill Gates’ TerraPower and the ‘Travelling Wave Reactor’

A US business venture funded partly by Bill Gates is reportedly looking for partners to help it develop a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power reactor concept called the Travelling Wave Reactor (TWR), which can operate for up to 100 years without refueling or removing any used fuel from the unit.

The company says it has had some communications with Toshiba, but denied in a press statement published in the Wall Street Journal that a partnership between the two firms was under development.

NGNP conceptual design due September 2010

Conceptual design reports that are “the last major deliverables” for phase 1 of the US Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project are expected to be completed by the end of September 2010, the Department of Energy (DOE) has said in a report (full text) to Congress. DOE said it will carry out a review of the project in September after which it hopes to give the go-ahead to proceed to phase 2.

Phase 2 includes the competitive selection of a single reactor design for demonstration as the next generation plant. It also includes finalizing the design of all safety systems so a combined construction and operating license (COL) application can be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Japan Restarts Monju FBR For First Time Since 1995

Japan has restarted the Monju fast-breeder nuclear reactor for the first time since it was shut down in December 1995 after a sodium coolant leak.

The 246 MW FBR was restarted to low power levels the state-run Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) said. The JAEA said the reactor should reach operational levels by May 8th when it should be supplying part of its capacity to the grid. It will undergo more tests over the next two years after which it is scheduled to enter full commercial operation.

Fusion is still just around the corner for the next 50 years

The international community is confident of accumulating the knowledge necessary to build a nuclear fusion demonstration reactor within 10 years, the director-general of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project has said.

This is the latest is a series of statements by various international developers of fusion energy that have been published since the 1950s. The major scientific and engineering challenges remain as significant as ever. It is one of the grand challenges of science on a global scale. It might be easier to reverse engineer human consciousness or secure cyberspace."

http://djysrv.blogspot.com/