Three Mile Island Plans to Reopen as Demand for Nuclear Power Grows
The infamous plant, closed since 2019, is getting a new lease on life after Microsoft agreed to buy its electricity to supply a growing fleet of data centers- NYTimes *We are doomed. Nuclear power for data
@gemswinc Nuclear power, especially next generation reactors like Thorium and new designs not based off the westinghouse model from the 70s I am convinced are a necessary transitional step.
They are safe, provide lots of power, and can help us reduce green house emissions and our reliance on coal and fossil fuel.
A coal plant puts out more thorium radiation in its smoke then comes from a thorium plant.
I don't see us as doomed by this, it may be an imperfect step towards us making it.
@AskTheDevil @NiveusLepus @gemswinc It's estimated that China has 20,000 years worth of power in Thorium reserves.
@Tacitus_Kilgore @AskTheDevil @gemswinc My understanding is India, and we have just as much if not more.
@NiveusLepus That makes a difference @Tacitus_Kilgore @AskTheDevil
@gemswinc @NiveusLepus @Tacitus_Kilgore I really believe that at least part of the resistance to these fuels is that there are so many deposits available, including to countries traditionally more beholden to external, wealthier powers.
It would be a lot of taps to try and turn off and restrict.
@AskTheDevil Gee what a novel idea. Allow countries to be beholden to their citizens and not some greedy, corrupt country who don't really care about anything except how much money they can bilk from them, and keep them there.
Boy oh boy, if I was in charge of the world. Shit would happen, let me tell you!
@Tacitus_Kilgore Then China holds those cards. Perhaps a reason to look for other means, or use energy for necessity @AskTheDevil @NiveusLepus
@gemswinc @Tacitus_Kilgore @NiveusLepus North America is loaded with it, too. It's among the most plentiful radioactive substances. There's deposits all over the world.
Especially in places that are usually poor.
@AskTheDevil If I recall one of the things that is still making it unfeasible is size. It takes a large plant to produce enough energy to make it cost effective. Concentration on scaling it down without giving up energy is ongoing. @gemswinc @NiveusLepus
@Tacitus_Kilgore @gemswinc @NiveusLepus I think pebble bed reactors scale way more easily than the rest.
It's literally just ceramic beads with enough radio-decaying material to stay hot enough, in proximity, to heat steam (or whatever). In a pit. There's not enough reaction for them to go critical, no complex cooling systems required.
@gemswinc @Tacitus_Kilgore @NiveusLepus I kind of like the thought of an energy independent China, too. Then they won't feel a temptation to look elsewhere.
Could take "China" out of that statement and put pretty much any nation there, though.
; )
@gemswinc @Tacitus_Kilgore @NiveusLepus Presupposing they don't control all the supply of thorium or whichever fuels, and there are accessible deposits being used around the world.
@AskTheDevil @gemswinc Exactly! The Nuclear reactor that we have in most common use in the US is there because its a plutonium breeder in the right circumstances. This is part of the Nuclear Warfare Production doctrine of the US, but it does not have to be this way.
@NiveusLepus This is all new to me. I will look into it, but I will still wish it were for other uses @AskTheDevil
@gemswinc @NiveusLepus The TLDR is that in the beginning, we had a choice between supporting simple tech that is easy to build and uses any old fuel and cannot go critical, or complex, dangerous tech that can only be funded by the most wealthy and powerful.
So of course, industry lobbied for the one that allows them to control the tap better, instead of the safer, cheaper one.
@NiveusLepus @gemswinc I support that sort of nuclear power. Also, pebble-bed reactors.
I do not support most forms of nuclear power.
Thorium is plentiful and much easier to use safely and responsibly, and pebble-bed reactors can flexibly use many types of fuel that would otherwise become waste or weapons.