The world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant, the Shidaowan high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) nuclear power plant, officially went into commercial operation in east China's Shandong Province on Wednesday, according to the National Energy Administration and China Huaneng Group.
I’m interested to dig into how the HTGR works. I have what I would call an “average redditor” level of understanding about how graphite and heavy water regulated reactors work but I’m not one of those let’s go all in on nuclear Andys so I’m not up to date on the latest designs.
My main issues with nuclear are the safety, costs compared to other green solutions like solar and wind, what to do about the waste and ensure that it is stored safely for the centuries or millennia that it needs to be stored safely, and how/where the raw materials are mined (see France wrt Niger). The article makes it out that this design improves safety so that’s good. I’m curious to look into how much it costs compared to the Westinghouse designed reactors that China is building (has built recently?) per kWh.
Liquid Thorium Salt Small Modular Reactors address a lot of concerns.
By the name, they are smaller and modular which allows for a scalable solution to building which will address time and cost of construction. Thorium is not dangerously radioactive until it is being turned into fissile material inside the reactor and then the waste can be run inside it under specific ‘recipes’ to fully consume it which addresses another big issue.
Unfortunately it does create some problems surrounding proliferation, but at this point we’re all dead anyways, so I’m inclined to say fuck it, who cares. Proliferation concerns themselves seem like advanced powers pulling the ladder up and saying they get to be kings of the world and everyone else must be their subjects aside from the handful of MAD capable states.
Hahahaha, I’m dying! I went to YouTube to find a video about high-temperature gas cooled reactor designs and found this very informative video from a professor in Illinois: https://youtu.be/_mJ3S-VQuHY?si=tNIO1F4NluetZQ1c. He goes over the basic design and benefits of them compared to Gen 3 reactors and then finishes the video, which was published 4 years ago, by saying that they are being tested out in labs and if they prove useful and commercially viable then maybe we will see them rolling out in “30 to 40 years”! And China did it in 4, embarrassing 😂
Cool video. The end addresses your point directly— “as long as there’s an economic imperative.” The profit motive is the great failure of capitalism, we are incapable of doing obviously good things unless they make rich people more money.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: