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The Basement
Attempting to bring clarity to the nuclear problems facing Japan
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<blockquote data-quote="John Roberts" data-source="post: 42888" data-attributes="member: 126"><p>Re: Attempting to bring clarity to the nuclear problems facing Japan</p><p></p><p>As a follow up to this The NRC just approved Toshiba's AP1000 design. There are about a dozen power plant projects waiting on this in the US. There are still critics of the shield building (strength) but the modified design now uses passive cooling systems that rely on gravity feed and convection cooling, instead of a electrical pumps and valves. That require electricity and control systems to work. While water probably gets pumped into a reservoir, this is easier to manage than the design widely used in Japan that was severely challenged when electrical power was lost. </p><p></p><p>I am still enthusiastic about a leapfrog technology to a self-quenching nuclear cycle (probably not the correct name for it), but I appreciate the more conservative view to use technology that is well known and fully vetted. It is interesting to see Germany completely abandon nuclear, for other energy sources, but it is difficult to tell from a distance if this was done based on scientific merit or political mood. </p><p></p><p>Not to connect too widely spaced dots, but there is something called the "automation paradox", where safety systems used to manage overly complex processes can sometimes fail, and then there better be an experienced human nearby to take the controls. Reportedly the Air France mid ocean crash occurred because, the plane dropped out of auto-pilot due to difficult conditions, and the two of three pilots in the cockpit at that moment were not skilled enough to handle the situation. So going to the simpler passively cooled nuclear plant design makes a ton of sense. I think there may be further simplification available, but I am not a nuclear expert among all the other things I am not expert about. </p><p></p><p>Getting our nuclear industry moving again is not a bad thing with all the coal plants being shuttered due to regulation (of course less mercury emission is not a bad thing either). In the meanwhile natural gas is cheap and plentiful, so that can pick up some of the coal plant slack keeping our electrical grid supplied. </p><p></p><p>JR</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="John Roberts, post: 42888, member: 126"] Re: Attempting to bring clarity to the nuclear problems facing Japan As a follow up to this The NRC just approved Toshiba's AP1000 design. There are about a dozen power plant projects waiting on this in the US. There are still critics of the shield building (strength) but the modified design now uses passive cooling systems that rely on gravity feed and convection cooling, instead of a electrical pumps and valves. That require electricity and control systems to work. While water probably gets pumped into a reservoir, this is easier to manage than the design widely used in Japan that was severely challenged when electrical power was lost. I am still enthusiastic about a leapfrog technology to a self-quenching nuclear cycle (probably not the correct name for it), but I appreciate the more conservative view to use technology that is well known and fully vetted. It is interesting to see Germany completely abandon nuclear, for other energy sources, but it is difficult to tell from a distance if this was done based on scientific merit or political mood. Not to connect too widely spaced dots, but there is something called the "automation paradox", where safety systems used to manage overly complex processes can sometimes fail, and then there better be an experienced human nearby to take the controls. Reportedly the Air France mid ocean crash occurred because, the plane dropped out of auto-pilot due to difficult conditions, and the two of three pilots in the cockpit at that moment were not skilled enough to handle the situation. So going to the simpler passively cooled nuclear plant design makes a ton of sense. I think there may be further simplification available, but I am not a nuclear expert among all the other things I am not expert about. Getting our nuclear industry moving again is not a bad thing with all the coal plants being shuttered due to regulation (of course less mercury emission is not a bad thing either). In the meanwhile natural gas is cheap and plentiful, so that can pick up some of the coal plant slack keeping our electrical grid supplied. JR [/QUOTE]
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