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8/28/2023 4:37:04 PM

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Section 4: President & Congress
Subject: Nuclear Power news Msg# 1192023

From:

Tom Hemmick Forum Leader

Joined 7/21/2005

To:

Robert Bauersmith (Read)

Joined 6/11/2007

Here's a description of some of the activities at Terra Power which are being led by Bill Gates, in the field of modular nuclear power plants. The prototype unit is called Natrium

How is a Natrium plant different from conventional nuclear plants?
The Natrium reactor builds on existing nuclear energy plant technology but differs from existing plants in several ways.

Smaller. The Natrium plant is much smaller than most conventional nuclear plants, which are around 1,000 megawatts in size. It is easier and faster to construct, and more cost effective for utility customers.
Safer. By using sodium near atmospheric pressure, the Natrium plant both enhances safety and can reduce costs by using a much simpler architecture.
Integrates with renewables. The reactor’s heat can be stored in the molten salt tanks, much like a large battery. The energy storage system can store more energy than the largest battery storage system currently deployed on the grid. This enables a Natrium plant to operate as a baseload power source or as a flexible, load-following system to support grids with variable-output renewables.

Natrium schematic

Reactor vessel (pictured at bottom ) is about the size of a small community water tank, (without the tall legs) Large storage tanks will hold hot molten sodium.

Click Here Click Here Click Here

Some Reactor vessels and related equipment are designed for transporting on flat bed trucks

NASA is also designing mini nuclear reactors to power space stations.

For reference, the above message is a reply to a message where:
YES Seems France has been a leader in having standardized nuclear facilities, supplying 70% to 75%. That choice also produces one of the lowest electricity prices in Western Europe --.2086 Euros per kWh. The average cost of electricity in France is 18% cheaper than the EU average. By comparison Spain & Germany, prices are 43% and 55% higher than France's. Pretty significant.

The average residential U.S. electricity price in May 2023 was 16.14 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), Maryland was 16.08 cents/kwh), but with the residential rate a bit lower. However the France rate of .2086 Euros per kWh ( 23 US cents/kwh) France also has a 31% (average) for taxes added onto their power bills. So the US comes out as lower rates.

Now the politics in the US is led by greenies who often successfully object to nuclear power. Or at least cause very costly delays. So standardization seems off the table.

Next nuclear here in the US will be the small modular units now in the development stages. Their size resembles a community water tank, (without the tall legs) Components can be shipped on a large 18 wheeler. These modular units have smaller nuclear cores, so the hope is for less objections to the false comparisons to nuclear bombs and their radiation. That false urban myth has hung around way too long

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