Energy Discussion

[taxi1]

I might be reading challenged...

Where in that advertisement to laypeople does it say we can design cores without the requirement to remove shutdown decay heat?

Systems still have to get rid of the heat, they are just working towards natural heat-driven circulation rather than driven by pumps.

Small modular reactors: Assessing the passive safety advantage

Discover how the passive design philosophy used in small modular reactors can create a safer, more economical future for nuclear power.

www.innovationnewsnetwork.com

Natural Circulation Loops, driven by heat and gravity, offer their own interesting physics that need careful attention.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0029549325001943

If you search on "instability" in this doc, Natural circulation in watercooled nuclear power plants: Phenomena, models, and methodology for system reliability assessments it appears over 500 times.

https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/TE_1474_web.pdf

 

[Brett327]

Where in that advertisement to laypeople does it say we can design cores without the requirement to remove shutdown decay heat?

It doesn't. It's removed passively, without the need for power. Any other mysteries of nuclear engineering I can simplify for you?

 

[Spekkio]

Natural circulation has also been around since the dawn of nuclear power ... it's a stop gap. You cannot get enough flow rate to sustain safety indefinitely.

If you can't restore active decay heat removal for cores capable of supporting commercial power supply needs, you get a meltdown.