Posts by William Wilgus

Bill Gates' nuclear firm plans hot, salty push into power

Re: No Radiation?

Fukushima isn't over yet. It remains to be seen what the consequences are. Chernobyl isn't over yet and reportedly won't be for another 10,000 years. I also understand the sarcophagus is crumbling and they need to build a more permanent structure to contain it. The Three Mile Island plant has not been de-commissioned; they don't know how to do it. That's three very serious accidents that aren't over yet. There have been lots of other accidents and incidents.

All things have the potential to cause problems, it's just that the potential harm of nuclear power is beyond compare. What happens if the spent fuel in the 5th story storage pool at Fukushima cathes on fire? It wouldn't be pretty.

Do I have perfect answers to solve energy problems? No. At the moment, neither does anyone else.

Re: No Radiation?

Molten salt can burn and it can explode. The Fast Breeder Molten Salt Reactor at Monju, Japan had a fire due to a leak of molten salt. It only produced electricity for one hour and has only run 250 days in the two decades since it's first test run.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju_Nuclear_Power_Plant

Like all things, MSRs have disadvantages:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_salt_reactor#Disadvantages

Re: Why isn't this being done in the UK?

A Working prototype of what? No traveling wave reactor has ever been built. Few Molten Salt Reactors have been built and they've had problems---they're difficult to build.

Re: Money != Progress

Operative word: CAN. --- as opposed to WILL.

In case it wasn't clear, no traveling wave reactor has ever been built. It's entirely possible that one will never be built as they're considered by some to be too difficult to build.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_wave_reactor#Concept_criticism

That TerraPower decided to change from burning at the end of the fuel to burning at the middle indicates TerraPower wasn't very savvy about traveling wave reactors, because they've been discussed since the 1950s and the fuel burns from the inside out. TerraPower was formed in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_wave_reactor#Traveling_wave_vs._standing_wave

I'd hedge your bet, Bill.