Great episode! The Japanese accident in question had two major causes: 1. the workers were not trained regarding the higher enrichment of the working fluid. 2. they were working in larger volumes than they were supposed to. They were working on their 7th batch when the accident occurred, the six previous, as best I can understand, were razor close to the criticality threshold.
This accident is covered in gory detail in James Mahaffey's excellent Atomic Accidents. I was literally reading this chapter last night! As an aside, I think Mr. Mahaffey would make an ideal guest for the show. His writing is top notch, with a dry acerbic wit and I suspect it would be a highly educational and entertaining dive into nuclear history.
“The man who made nuclear power understandable, not scary, ending energy blindness and saving the western world from a misbegotten energy transition that didn’t exist.” (per Jean-Baptiste Frezzos…).
That’s how the history books will record you in a single sentence.
What a fantastic discussion of nuclear fuel! I have worked in nuclear power, naval and utility, for over 43 years. I operated and maintained the plants, and trained operators. I have never seen the topic so well illustrated. I have dealt with far more technical descriptions, but none of them came close to the overall picture presented here.
Your chicken and egg discussion of the manufacturing cycle is nothing short of brilliant. Every would be manufacturer and investor of small modular reactors should read this. Further, it illustrates the absolute brilliance of Admiral Rickover, who had to invent both the chicken and the egg in a world where people could understand neither.
Chris, thanks for distilling the conversation into an explanatory essay, and kudos for the testimonials you are receiving. One small thought occurs to me. The industry jargon “burnup” has a tendency to put the wrong mental picture in the minds of the uninitiated (which you brilliantly correct). Looking forward to part 2!
As a chemical engineer with 4 decades of work in large scale chemical and petrochemical plants, I was stunned by the technical complexity (overlaid with the issues of radiation and material risks) of this technology. It reminds me of the time I talked to an engineer on the Apollo program and how they did engineering work when computers were not available to spit out answers 10 seconds after a problem was put in. Every young engineer should read this and understand what real engineering is.
haleu is also moving backwards in terms of intensification of energy production, the output per unit of material use and habitat impact. its a shortcut to help new coolant technologies compete until conversion/breeding technology is developed and commercialized, which converts the isotopes to fissile inside the vessel and eventually burns the highest possible proportion of the mined material, though it isnt yet known what the proportion can be. maximum intensity isnt crucial now, construction cost and to a lesser extent operation cost is. but eventually conversion reactors will be essential to scale up energy while conserving habitat.
The national 🇺🇸 problem is that we need more energy and this goes beyond commercial considerations.
If the new technologies can help us break through the logjam we built for ourselves 🇺🇸 then that is a gain regardless of profit or the learning pains involved.
IFR fuel is basically a slug of unrefined uranium plutonium metal bathing in sodium clad instainless steel sitting in more sodium. This handles all of the problems described in this great article and then some.
Great episode! The Japanese accident in question had two major causes: 1. the workers were not trained regarding the higher enrichment of the working fluid. 2. they were working in larger volumes than they were supposed to. They were working on their 7th batch when the accident occurred, the six previous, as best I can understand, were razor close to the criticality threshold.
This accident is covered in gory detail in James Mahaffey's excellent Atomic Accidents. I was literally reading this chapter last night! As an aside, I think Mr. Mahaffey would make an ideal guest for the show. His writing is top notch, with a dry acerbic wit and I suspect it would be a highly educational and entertaining dive into nuclear history.
“The man who made nuclear power understandable, not scary, ending energy blindness and saving the western world from a misbegotten energy transition that didn’t exist.” (per Jean-Baptiste Frezzos…).
That’s how the history books will record you in a single sentence.
👍 👏
What a fantastic discussion of nuclear fuel! I have worked in nuclear power, naval and utility, for over 43 years. I operated and maintained the plants, and trained operators. I have never seen the topic so well illustrated. I have dealt with far more technical descriptions, but none of them came close to the overall picture presented here.
Your chicken and egg discussion of the manufacturing cycle is nothing short of brilliant. Every would be manufacturer and investor of small modular reactors should read this. Further, it illustrates the absolute brilliance of Admiral Rickover, who had to invent both the chicken and the egg in a world where people could understand neither.
Chris, thanks for distilling the conversation into an explanatory essay, and kudos for the testimonials you are receiving. One small thought occurs to me. The industry jargon “burnup” has a tendency to put the wrong mental picture in the minds of the uninitiated (which you brilliantly correct). Looking forward to part 2!
As a chemical engineer with 4 decades of work in large scale chemical and petrochemical plants, I was stunned by the technical complexity (overlaid with the issues of radiation and material risks) of this technology. It reminds me of the time I talked to an engineer on the Apollo program and how they did engineering work when computers were not available to spit out answers 10 seconds after a problem was put in. Every young engineer should read this and understand what real engineering is.
haleu is also moving backwards in terms of intensification of energy production, the output per unit of material use and habitat impact. its a shortcut to help new coolant technologies compete until conversion/breeding technology is developed and commercialized, which converts the isotopes to fissile inside the vessel and eventually burns the highest possible proportion of the mined material, though it isnt yet known what the proportion can be. maximum intensity isnt crucial now, construction cost and to a lesser extent operation cost is. but eventually conversion reactors will be essential to scale up energy while conserving habitat.
Thank you.
Well done note of caution.
Certainly wasn’t the defense of the status quo.
The national 🇺🇸 problem is that we need more energy and this goes beyond commercial considerations.
If the new technologies can help us break through the logjam we built for ourselves 🇺🇸 then that is a gain regardless of profit or the learning pains involved.
IFR fuel is basically a slug of unrefined uranium plutonium metal bathing in sodium clad instainless steel sitting in more sodium. This handles all of the problems described in this great article and then some.
https://anl.app.box.com/s/y4meh5nse77r3b2to3lwwp2rzna7xtve#:~:text=The%20Fuel%20Choice-,5,Fuel,-The%20IFR%20metal
Discussed in part 2 coming soon to a substack near you!