Okay that’s two, but Ben wasn’t a math major.
2 Likes
I am in favor of expanding the use of nuclear power in the US and elsewhere. These new SMR designs have several interesting aspects, and I would like to see some new plants built that are different from the traditional light water, 1000 megawatt power plant.
However, I think some caution and perspective are also in order. For starters, it will be a while before any of these plants are actually built and in service. This is also true for the currently retired plants that are being brought back to service (Palisades and Three Mile Island). For those un-retired plants, many engineers, operators and maintenance specialists will need to be rehired, retrained and much work done to restore the plants to operable condition. That is going to take a while.
As for the new generation of plants being funded by Google and Amazon, the complete designs haven’t even been approved yet. As such, these designs are still relatively early in the construction planning process. Right now, the reactor suppliers are optimistic that their plants can be built quickly and cheaply. When they get to the point when they are ready to actually start building, the costs will probably be somewhat higher than they are right now. When that happens, we will see how committed Google and Amazon really are to these new projects.
Admiral Hyman Rickover was called the father of the nuclear navy. He was the Director of Naval Reactors for many years, and oversaw the development of the first nuclear powered submarines and surface vessels. Rickover famously wrote about nuclear reactors that exist only on paper, versus nuclear reactors that were actually being built. He called the paper variety “academic reactors”, whereas he called the real-world plants “practical reactors”. Below is a portion of what he wrote:
"An academic reactor or reactor plant almost always has the following basic characteristics:
It is simple.
It is small.
It is cheap.
It is light.
It can be built very quickly.
It is very flexible in purpose (“omnibus reactor”)
Very little development is required. It will use mostly “off-the-shelf” components.
The reactor is in the study phase. It is not being built now.
On the other hand, a practical reactor plant can be distinguished by the following characteristics:
It is being built now.
It is behind schedule.
It is requiring an immense amount of development on apparently trivial items. Corrosion, in particular, is a problem.
It is very expensive.
It takes a long time to build because of the engineering development problems.
It is large.
It is heavy.
It is complicated."
Also:
“The academic-reactor designer is a dilettante. He has not had to assume any real responsibility in connection with his projects. He is free to luxuriate in elegant ideas, the practical shortcomings of which can be relegated to the category of “mere technical details.” The practical-reactor designer must live with these same technical details. Although recalcitrant and awkward, they must be solved and cannot be put off until tomorrow. Their solutions require man power, time, and money.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They should definitely move forward in developing these new reactor designs. I am happy that Google and Amazon will commit the much needed investment in these projects. But it will not be a completely smooth path to the end.
_ Pete
9 Likes
The reality these are not economical for Google and Amazon
You’ll get the news eventually
Since these new nuclear reactors have a small footprint, I’d like to see them sited next to the Tech billionaire’s homes. You can prove the safety of this technology to the public by placing your kid’s bedroom next door.
intercst
3 Likes
Dow Chemical wants one too. And they have the engineering expertise to make it work.
1 Like
That does not make it economical.
There is a financial problem involved. These reactors generally will produce more energy than needed on site. That depends there are some foundries and some server sites that will use the electricity to spec.
But the cost will be ultra high. We see Google and Amazon as deep pockets. Dow by comparison is much smaller with a mcap of $68 Billion. Alphabet’s mcap is over $2 Trillion. But Google can not focus that much capital on a server farm. It is not going to be proportional. The guys who study the IRR will nix it. The press won’t notice.
adding Dow can bankrupt itself on a project like this. Can do and succeed at doing are two very different things. If the money runs out the engineering does not count.