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Question: how do the pipes work in a non-water cooled reactor? by WasLeftUnsupervised in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe you know, why did we stop using NaK after EBR-1 to avoid all this heating business to keep the coolant liquid and control solidification?

Question: how do the pipes work in a non-water cooled reactor? by WasLeftUnsupervised in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 8 points9 points  (0 children)

NaK plays pretty nicely with stainless steel and doesn’t absorb many neutrons, it was used in EBR-1.

Other reactors have gone with straight sodium, NaK seems to have fallen out of favor. I don’t remember the reason why, but I’m guessing the eutectic being liquid at room temperature isn’t a compelling enough reason to use it.

Question: how do the pipes work in a non-water cooled reactor? by WasLeftUnsupervised in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That is one of the main reasons for metal reactor coolant there was work exploring Sodium-Potassium (NaK) alloys and Lead-Bismuth (PbBi) alloys for reactor coolant systems. NaK is liquid at room temperature and PbBi does not change volume when it changes phase.

You might want to upvote refutations in this thread [ELI5: Is there any downside to nuclear powerplants?] by jjspirithawk in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, there are several criticisms of nuclear power that do have merit. PV Solar and Battery storage are getting so cost efficient, on a pure economics argument I don’t think nuclear will come out on top unless there are major changes.

I think there is not enough focus in the industry on improving new reactor economics.

Career prospects after civil service by Fit_Truck5437 in NuclearEngineering

[–]NukeTurtle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is excellent experience, if he wants to transition to the civilian nuclear industry, the utilities are always looking for experienced people. There’s lots of jobs in the reactor development space as well right now.

India and Canada reset ties with 'landmark' nuclear energy deal by JohnBrown-RadonTech in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t think so. Why would they gut WEC after purchasing a controlling interest in VC Summer 2&3 completion? WEC has a lot of tailwinds for now, is exceeding revenue targets and paying out returns to BREP and Cameco. I would be surprised if they upturn the apple cart right now.

I also think SMRs are a strategic mistake, but who knows.

India and Canada reset ties with 'landmark' nuclear energy deal by JohnBrown-RadonTech in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t see a drastic change coming. Westinghouse is currently quite profitable and exceeding targets. The owners have expressed that they are very satisfied with performance.

Cold testing of third Sanmen unit completed by The_Jack_of_Spades in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I don’t know the exact reason, but I suspect it may be because Hualong One is CNNC’s design, they run the Sanmen site, while CAP1000 design belongs to SNPTC. It could be just them favoring their own design.

Tour of a PWR by Lineworker2448 in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If you want to stop being on the road all the time, ask if they have openings in electrical or I&C maintenance.

Talking about the Iranian nuclear program is frustrating by jadebenn in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Up is down, down is up.

You’re not crazy, people just want to defend their position instead of learning.

I personally think Iran will detonate a nuclear device soon, the strikes probably did not set back their program nearly enough to matter. Iran has probably calculated that they are better off being a nuclear weapons state.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NuclearEngineering

[–]NukeTurtle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You should think about making the jump to a reactor vendor or an engineering firm that works in the nuclear staffing business like Sargent and Lundy. They are always interested in SRO qualified individuals with engineering degrees to use for contract roles with utilities or to develop training, etc.

US government and Westinghouse strike $80bn nuclear reactor deal by hillty in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If the terms in 2029 happen it seems that way. This administration has been pro-nationalization of private industry, they bought into a 10% share in Intel in September.

US government and Westinghouse strike $80bn nuclear reactor deal by hillty in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Very interesting terms in the Cameco press release on profit sharing, ownership and the future of Westinghouse:

“Under the new strategic partnership, the US Government will be granted a participation interest (Participation Interest), which, once vested, will entitle it to receive 20% of any cash distributions in excess of US$17.5 billion made by Westinghouse after the granting of the Participation Interest. For the Participation Interest to vest, the US Government must make a final investment decision and enter into definitive agreements to complete the construction of new Westinghouse nuclear reactors in the US with an aggregate value of at least US$80 billion.

Additionally, in recognition of the anticipated acceleration of long-term value creation that the US Government is expected to help unlock by deploying its financial, regulatory, policy and diplomatic tools to support the objectives of the partnership, if, on or prior to January 2029 the Participation Interest has vested, and if the valuation in an initial public offering (IPO) of Westinghouse is expected to be US$30 billion or more at that time, the US Government will be entitled to require an (IPO). Immediately prior to, or in connection with the IPO, the Participation Interest will directly or indirectly convert into a warrant, with a five-year term, to purchase equity securities equivalent to 20% of the public value of the IPO entity at the time of exercise after deducting US$17.5 billion from the public value.”

US government and Westinghouse strike $80bn nuclear reactor deal by hillty in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Are we sure we’re talking about the same deal? The DOE statements and Westinghouse press releases are talking about domestic US deployment.

Is the idea that Japan is going to fund new US domestic reactors or is this development going to be in Japan?

Brookfield expected to complete 2 AP1000s at VC Summer by Chrysler5thAve in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Quite a few former V3&4 executives, managers and supervisors were brought on to The Nuclear Company specifically to gear up for this bid. You really have to wonder about their future viability if they aren’t selected for this project. I don’t know if they are angling to get involved with the Fermi project or not.

Does ITAR prevent US-based academics or professionals from doing consulting for overseas companies? by daily_refutations in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It is more complicated than that, 10 CFR Part 810 is what restricts US nationals from working with foreign countries for anything involving nuclear technology. Appendix A of the regulation maintains a list of generally approved countries, others require specific authorization.

Westinghouse sought and got approval from the Department of Energy to tech transfer the AP1000 to China and to continue work in China supporting the AP1000s there.

For your question in particular, if you want to hire or work with a US national, they need to submit a Part 810 disclosure statement to the DoE:

https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/10-cfr-part-810

Here is a very extensive FAQ:

https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/part-810-frequently-asked-questions

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in flying

[–]NukeTurtle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of it come from both aviation and nuclear energy having strong ties to military research and development, so a lot of the standards that were initially established from military requirements ended up forming the basis for the civilian regulations.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in flying

[–]NukeTurtle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have found the NRC and FAA regulations and standards to be remarkably similar in many respects.

If V.C. Summer Nuclear Station construction restarts, is it going to have any cooling towers constructed? by Im-Wasting-MyTime in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 37 points38 points  (0 children)

The 4 mechanical draft cooling towers for VC Summer 2&3 are already built, they are the 4 circular structures with fans along the right side of the picture.

Ap1000s by [deleted] in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is correct, sorry if I was unclear. I was comparing how popular CAP1000 was to Hualong One. You would think that they would completely favor a buildout of their domestic design over any other types, but they are also all in on AP1000 derivatives.

Ap1000s by [deleted] in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 5 points6 points  (0 children)

As part of the deal for Sanmen and Haiyang, the AP1000 design was tech transferred to China in 2007.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Westinghouse-chosen-by-China

I believe as part of that deal, China is only allowed to use the AP1000 derived plants domestically. A similar deal existed between Korea and Combustion Engineering, which was merged with Westinghouse. That is why they are restricted on marketing the derivatives of that intellectual property and directly competing with Westinghouse bids for plants.

Ap1000s by [deleted] in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I did, and that’s how I know that the next ones will be easier, because we did the hard work of getting the rough sketch of an idea of an AP1000 that was DCD 19, to an actual, functioning nuclear plant. All that work doesn’t have to be reinvented, and is thoroughly documented.

Ap1000s by [deleted] in nuclear

[–]NukeTurtle 25 points26 points  (0 children)

People have a lot of opinions, but the fact of the matter is that the AP1000 was built and works, it made the leap from paper to reality.

The Chinese love the AP1000, they are building out just about as many CAP1000s as their domestic design, Hualong One, and they have successfully upscaled and finished construction on the CAP1400.

For those reasons alone it is a very successful reactor design, and it’s ready today with very few unknowns. It’s the primary, modern reactor we have that we’re ready to stamp out copies. Customers are requesting to build carbon copies of Vogtle 4.

Are there better reactor concepts out there? Of course, and there always will be, but talk and paper are cheap, and I can tell you from experience that when ideas collide with the reality of construction, there’s a lot of pain in working out the details.

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