The World's Tiniest Nuclear Plant Is Coming to Idaho

[Swordsmyth]

An experimental nuclear reactor in Idaho could be the first of its kind in the United States: a commercial reactor providing power using fuel that reduces nuclear waste. The small power plant could power about 1,000 homes and can run almost autonomously for 20 years.
This project comes from Oklo, that claims its reactor would be the “first ever” one to generate power through nuclear waste. But Oklo is just one of many groups working on ways to make localized and safer nuclear power as a bridge between the energy status quo and a more carbon neutral future.
“Every scenario presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for keeping the planet from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, relies on nuclear providing a growing share of our electricity,” the environmental blog Grist explains.
There are a few overarching ideas these aspiring innovators share. First, much smaller nuclear reactors—whether that’s relatively small versions of “full size” commercial reactors or truly localized small reactors like Oklo’s—are inherently safer. Imagine trying to wipe up a spill of a few drops of soda versus an entire two-liter bottle. It’s also easier and cheaper to build containment for smaller reactors.
Second, many of these innovative designs want to use a new or different format of nuclear fuel in their reactions. Some are using recycled waste products, some are using chemical reactions that can generate power without reaching “critical” state—and smaller reactors in particular require a lot less fuel, which, means there’s less toxic waste.
Oklo’s plans are a combination of both. At just 1.5 megawatts, the plant would be one of the smallest plants ever build—even during the early days of nuclear energy. The smallest exigent nuclear plant in the world produces 11 megawatts, and even Russia’s new floating power plant makes over 30. But the nondescript design looks like an A-frame house and would be easy to squeeze into many more locations than operating nuclear plants.
In December, Oklo received a permit to begin building their new Aurora plant, which is the first and only permit ever issued in the U.S. to a nuclear plant using something other than a light water (“water-cooled”) reactor. The specific mix of fuel they plan to use is called HALEU for short: “High-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) [...] promises to provide more power per volume than conventional reactors, and its efficiency allows for smaller plant sizes,” Power explains. “It also promises longer core life and a higher burn-up rate of nuclear waste.”

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/worlds-tinies...193900256.html

[Zippyjuan]

Not much energy and at what cost? 1.5 megawatts is the energy produced by fifteen car engines. It could power about 500 homes for an hour (homes account for about one third of consumed energy). 1.5 megawatts is the output of one average wind turbine. Nuclear power is a fancy way to boil water. Granted the purpose for now is just to demonstrate the technology.

https://www.cleanenergyauthority.com...-megawatt-hour

A megawatt is a unit for measuring power that is equivalent to one million watts. One megawatt is equivalent to the energy produced by 10 automobile engines.

A megawatt hour (Mwh) is equal to 1,000 Kilowatt hours (Kwh). It is equal to 1,000 kilowatts of electricity used continuously for one hour. It is about equivalent to the amount of electricity used by about 330 homes during one hour.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-next...lte-and-safer/

Oklo faces significant hurdles on its road to regulatory approval, though. For one thing, Aurora is a liquid metal-cooled fast reactor, a design that has been used almost exclusively on submarines. “Frankly, the regulatory paradigm is built for large reactors,” DeWitte says.

While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission works to figure out how small reactors fit in the existing nuclear regulations, other energy policy makers are hyping the technology at every opportunity. Earlier this year, leaders from the US and Europe met for the first high-level international discussions about small modular reactors, and provincial governments in Canada recently met to promote small reactors. And when Rick Perry stepped down as the US Secretary of Energy this month, he gave small modular reactors a special shout-out in his farewell video.

In the US, the push for small reactors has prompted some changes to the regulatory environment to help companies get a first small reactor online at a federal facility by 2027. But small reactors will still need to prove they can be cost-competitive, says Steve Fetter, a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland. With the price of renewables like wind and solar rapidly falling and ample natural gas available, smaller, svelter reactors may never find their niche. Especially if a prime motivator is climate change, whose pace is exceeding that of regulatory approvals.

“I am skeptical of the ability to license advanced nuclear reactors and deploy them on a scale that would make a difference for climate change,” adds Fetter. “But I think it’s worth exploring because they’re a centralized form of carbon-free electricity and we don’t have a lot of those available.” At least in the US, it might be the only way nuclear power gets another chance.

[timosman]

Not much energy and at what cost? 1.5 megawatts is the energy produced by fifteen car engines. It could power about 500 homes for an hour

For an hour? Can you ask your team leader to verify the accuracy of this statement?

[pcosmar]

For an hour? Can you ask your team leader to verify the accuracy of this statement?

Confusing Horsepower with Kwh...

I do a rough comparison for EV purposes,, but it is in no way accurate at all..

more of a conceptual comparison.

I believe that 1.5 megawatt is continuous,, and not stored energy like a Battery..Zippy also seems confused on this point.

[Danke]

got one

[Anti Globalist]

Who would have thought that nuclear plants had the capability of being tiny? Every nuclear facility I've seen has always been huge.