Probably the most important graph in the world

[Húrin]

was watching documentary on nuclear submarines a few night ago and the presenter said the reactor was about the size of a dustbin, would it be possible to use this technology for large industrial estates where energy demands are high ,say a small nuke in shed at the end of the estate, would it only work near large water masses for cooling

Who could afford it?

[charley]

Who could afford it?

i'm have no idea, i was hoping someone could tell me

[Húrin]

i'm have no idea, i was hoping someone could tell me

I am no expert but it would certainly be costlier than the coal-made power and wind power. I expect that to make reactors that small is an extremely expensive task: nuclear subs are propelled that way out of sheer expensive necessity. They don't have the volume to store enough deisel.

[charley]

thanks

[riven]

riven

Thank you for answering this question, my figure of 10% was derived on an average of the different types of reactor including fast breeder types and also considered the theoretical figures from pebble bed and much more importantly the proposed travelling wave reactor which holds great promise for ridding the world of a large proportion of its radioactive waste.

I did not mention in my one paragraph description of nuclear fission the fact that these reactors only have a maximum thermal efficiency of 30%. If it were not for the absolutely enormous amount of energy locked up in every atom in the universe, this miniscule efficiency would not be worth the bother, nature can make us very humble indeed.

The average figure is ok if you include the new generation of plants being built which are proposed to be able to reuse some types of nuclear waste and extract up 15% overall of the energy. However this hides the lack of efficiency in the current fleet. Most breeder reactors are only prototypes due to resistance in introducing them in the past on the misguided proliferation argument.

The second point is moot really. 80% of our electrical supplies are made through steam turbines and this has proven to be the cheapest and easiest to maintain method. If an abundance of nuclear fuel can be created through waste this can be maintained. A efficiency of 37% is realistic for large turbines but this ignores the potential for CHP which pushes this much higher.

[ivnryn]

was watching documentary on nuclear submarines a few night ago and the presenter said the reactor was about the size of a dustbin, would it be possible to use this technology for large industrial estates where energy demands are high ,say a small nuke in shed at the end of the estate, would it only work near large water masses for cooling

There is some talk of micro-fission power plants. The Russians are developing floating plants. The theory is that they could be mass produced and then sail to wherever they are required. They can also sail back to base for refurbishment.

Also, in the US, there are also a few US companies looking into small reactors. These could be sealed and transported to the customer. The reactor would have enough fuel to operate for say 20 years. After that, it would be sent back to the manufacturer. See for example, this article. Also, they would be breeder reactors, so would be more efficient in terms of use of fuel.

The theory is to mass produce the reactors, and have all the disposal problems etc. be handled in one place. Also, the smaller they can be made the better for developing countries.

One of the prices given in the article is $250 million for a ~250MW of power. That would work out at less than $0.01 per kWh. That could be pure marketing, as they don't actually have a working system.

[charley]

the floating power plant is an interesting idea,if one had been available after the haiti quake it could have made a huge difference,

[fiannafailure]

I honestly believe that if people in Ireland were serious about bringing nuclear energy plants to Ireland, the very first thing that needs to be done is to ask the energy regulator to cost setting up a nuclear energy regulatory system, this must be a precursor to any serious initiative in this regard.

You will then need to train and educate enough technicians and engineers to staff both the regulation and generation sides of the project.

Just as the renewable energy lobby are doing

The University of Limerick (UL), the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway), Shannon Development, and Silicon Valley's Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) have announced the launch of the Shannon Energy Valley, a major renewable energy hub in Ireland's Shannon Region.

Research News - Research Office - University of Limerick

[fiannafailure]

There have been quite a few developments in the Irish energy scene today.

Lumcloon energy received permission from An Bord Pleannala to develop a 350MW gas turbine and wind energy plant on the site of the old Ferbane peat station in Co Offaly.

Power plant to be built in Co Offaly - The Irish Times - Tue, Mar 16, 2010

SSE Renewables, a division of Airtricity have won very valuable rights to run ocean energy sites in the UK.

Irish renewables company wins ?3bn UK contract | IOL

And allied to the above story, Open Hydro an Irish ocean energy company have won a tender to develop a 200MW tidal energy farm in Scotland.

SiliconRepublic.com: OpenHydro to deploy 200MW tidal energy farm off Scotland - Green Tech

And finally in this little round up of news.

Tesco Ireland have received an indication from Fingal County Council that they will receive permission for two utility size wind turbines to reduce the companies energy bills at its enormous distribution centre near Donabate in Co Dublin.

Tesco's massive turbines to eclipse tallest building - Irish, Business - Independent.ie

The only comment I have on the Tesco proposal is that our workload on this thread will have to increase

Locals branded the plan as inappropriate and said that solar panels would have been better

Whatever about the plan being appropriate, the belief that solar pv panels sited in Ireland could deliver an equal amount of electricity means we have a long way to go on educating the public on energy matters.

[SIZE="1"]There is the beginning of a proposal being put together to build a windfarm on the Dublin Mountains ssshh[/SIZE]

[Heorditas]

Lumcloon energy received permission from An Bord Pleannala to develop a 350MW gas turbine and wind energy plant on the site of the old Ferbane peat station in Co Offaly.

Power plant to be built in Co Offaly - The Irish Times - Tue, Mar 16, 2010

They've only got permission for the peaking part though.
To be honest, the whole project is a bit of a head-scratcher. It's not exactly the best location for a conventional plant.