Nuclear Wave of the Future

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 11/29/15

Dan Ervin of the Baltimore Sun opines that anyone concerned about climate change should support efforts to build a new generation of advanced nuclear reactors. These new reactor designs can deliver safe, clean, reliable electricity and support our carbon-reduction goals. Nuclear power is the only current technology able to generate the amount of electricity required to support our standard of living without emitting carbon dioxide and nitrogen compounds. The U.S., and indeed the world, future well-being depends on innovative technologies like the traveling-wave reactor. Therefore, it is surprising that little attention was given to a recent announcement. The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNP) along with TerraPower, a Seattle-based start-up financed in large part by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold, announced a plan to build a traveling-wave prototype. This reactor can use a variety of materials for fuel, however, an option is the use of depleted uranium. This is the by-product of the uranium enrichment process with significant volumes. There are sufficient quantities of depleted uranium to generate electricity for centuries. Also, this reactor can use spent fuel from our existing reactors. The core in a traveling-wave reactor gradually converts fertile material into the fuel it needs. Cooled by liquid sodium instead of water, the reactor is designed to be safer than conventional light-water plants. Research is ongoing to address challenges using liquid sodium as the reactor coolant. In some respects, its waste is much easier to handle and is only radioactive for a few hundred years ... not thousands. The prototype, to be built in China, will be a mid-sized 600-megawatt reactor that will be ready for start-up by 2020. It will be followed by development of a 1,150-megawatt reactor for commercial use, with Asia as the principal market. It would be unfortunate if the U. S. lost its leadership in nuclear power technology as a result.