SMRs (Small Modular reactors) & Uranium Glass & Stuff

Already operating in a remote corner of Siberia are four small units at the Bilibino co-generation plant. These four 62 MWt (thermal) units are an unusual graphite-moderated boiling water design with water/steam channels through the moderator. They produce steam for district heating and 11 MWe (net) electricity each, remote from any grid. They are the world’s smallest commercial power reactors and have performed well since 1976, much more cheaply than fossil fuel alternatives in the severe climate of this Arctic region, but are due to be retired by 2023. Looking ahead, and apart from its barge-mounted ones, Rosatom is not positive about small reactors generally. Also in the small reactor category are the Indian 220 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) based on Canadian technology, and the Chinese 300-325 MWe PWR such as built at Qinshan Phase I and at Chashma in Pakistan, and now called CNP-300. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is now focusing on 540 MWe and 700 MWe versions of its PHWR, and is offering both 220 and 540 MWe versions internationally. These small established designs are relevant to situations requiring small to medium units, though they are not state of the art technology.

Hmmmmm, probably can not fit one of these in a car.

Also some interesting reading here.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/small-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx

Why does Australia need wind and solar electricity generation when we have some of the cleanest air on the planet after more than 100 years of using coal & oil N petrol cars n all.

World Air Quality today.


Seems clear that the worst pollution contributors are those countries that are far over populated...Those big brown clouds are from all their farting.  

adrian ss wrote:Already operating in a remote corner of Siberia are four small units at the Bilibino co-generation plant. These four 62 MWt (thermal) units are an unusual graphite-moderated boiling water design with water/steam channels through the moderator. They produce steam for district heating and 11 MWe (net) electricity each, remote from any grid. They are the world’s smallest commercial power reactors and have performed well since 1976, much more cheaply than fossil fuel alternatives in the severe climate of this Arctic region, but are due to be retired by 2023. Looking ahead, and apart from its barge-mounted ones, Rosatom is not positive about small reactors generally. Also in the small reactor category are the Indian 220 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) based on Canadian technology, and the Chinese 300-325 MWe PWR such as built at Qinshan Phase I and at Chashma in Pakistan, and now called CNP-300. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is now focusing on 540 MWe and 700 MWe versions of its PHWR, and is offering both 220 and 540 MWe versions internationally. These small established designs are relevant to situations requiring small to medium units, though they are not state of the art technology.

Hmmmmm, probably can not fit one of these in a car.

Also some interesting reading here.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/small-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx

A reactor whose containment could be easily be breached by a terrorist anti tank RPG or a shoulder fired missile or a mortar bomb seems to me to be a bad idea!

 Adriaaaaaaaaan So you're the wise guy. Do keep in mind that this is a Gold Detecting/Prospecting Forum first & foremost, or you'll force my hand towards applying more of this
Please try to keep "Off Topic" discussion within reason fellas.

Cheers Kon.

planetcare wrote:

adrian ss wrote:Already operating in a remote corner of Siberia are four small units at the Bilibino co-generation plant. These four 62 MWt (thermal) units are an unusual graphite-moderated boiling water design with water/steam channels through the moderator. They produce steam for district heating and 11 MWe (net) electricity each, remote from any grid. They are the world’s smallest commercial power reactors and have performed well since 1976, much more cheaply than fossil fuel alternatives in the severe climate of this Arctic region, but are due to be retired by 2023. Looking ahead, and apart from its barge-mounted ones, Rosatom is not positive about small reactors generally. Also in the small reactor category are the Indian 220 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) based on Canadian technology, and the Chinese 300-325 MWe PWR such as built at Qinshan Phase I and at Chashma in Pakistan, and now called CNP-300. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is now focusing on 540 MWe and 700 MWe versions of its PHWR, and is offering both 220 and 540 MWe versions internationally. These small established designs are relevant to situations requiring small to medium units, though they are not state of the art technology.

Hmmmmm, probably can not fit one of these in a car.

Also some interesting reading here.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/small-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx

A reactor  whose containment could be easily  be breached by a terrorist anti tank RPG or a shoulder fired  missile or a mortar bomb seems to me to be  a bad idea!

Yeah but!

No different solar panels and wind generator farms one mortar here and there and out goes the entire supply. I guess no different large coal fired generators or nuke stations either. I have not heard of terrorists taking out a nuclear power station yet. Maybe cannot figure how to do it without getting themselves irradiated big time.....Still there will be a first time sometime.

Kon61gold wrote:  Adriaaaaaaaaan So you're the wise guy. Do keep in mind that this is a Gold Detecting/Prospecting Forum first & foremost, or you'll force my hand towards applying more of this
Please try to keep "Off Topic" discussion within reason fellas.

Cheers Kon.

Ahhhhh Geeee Yer no fun at all.

PS the Doc has just put me on some different pain killers. Maybe they are winding me up a bit.

adrian ss wrote:

planetcare wrote:

adrian ss wrote:Already operating in a remote corner of Siberia are four small units at the Bilibino co-generation plant. These four 62 MWt (thermal) units are an unusual graphite-moderated boiling water design with water/steam channels through the moderator. They produce steam for district heating and 11 MWe (net) electricity each, remote from any grid. They are the world’s smallest commercial power reactors and have performed well since 1976, much more cheaply than fossil fuel alternatives in the severe climate of this Arctic region, but are due to be retired by 2023. Looking ahead, and apart from its barge-mounted ones, Rosatom is not positive about small reactors generally. Also in the small reactor category are the Indian 220 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) based on Canadian technology, and the Chinese 300-325 MWe PWR such as built at Qinshan Phase I and at Chashma in Pakistan, and now called CNP-300. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is now focusing on 540 MWe and 700 MWe versions of its PHWR, and is offering both 220 and 540 MWe versions internationally. These small established designs are relevant to situations requiring small to medium units, though they are not state of the art technology.

Hmmmmm, probably can not fit one of these in a car.

Also some interesting reading here.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/small-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx

A reactor  whose containment could be easily  be breached by a terrorist anti tank RPG or a shoulder fired  missile or a mortar bomb seems to me to be  a bad idea!

Yeah but!

No different solar panels and wind generator farms  one mortar here and there and out goes the entire supply. I guess no different large coal fired generators  or nuke stations either. I have not heard of terrorists taking out a nuclear power station yet. Maybe cannot figure how to do it without getting themselves irradiated big time.....Still there will be a first time sometime.

Solar panels and wind generator farms do not contain a huge inventory of very long lived radioisotopes!

Mere details, Mere details.    
Anything worth having is not always easy to obtain.
Do those radioisotopes transmit in stereo or are they quadraphonic (Old term for Surround Sound) .....I think those pain killers have really kicked in now.

No sooner do I get my hands on a new make of concentric coil, only to find myself locked up in a place with no bars.  Fingers crossed, one more day to go of this lockdown & I'll be hitting them thar hills, like a rat up a drain pipe.

Kon.

Me to Kon.
With a bit of luck We will be on Merimbula beaches this coming week end plus a few  more days.

Read this the other day:
CRACKS IN EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD: Minor cracks are opening in Earth's magnetic field today, Feb. 16th. Solar wind pouring through the gaps is sparking auroras around the Arctic Circle--no geomagnetic storm required. The solar wind speed is currently trending upward, so more lights could be in the offing tonight.

How the hell do ya crack a magnetic field???  You can bend it twist it make it go this way and tother but cracking one is a tad difficult.
Anyhoo it might cause some EMI for touchy tectas.

Rang the Doc today and said that I think those Pain Killer patches would be more useful fixing punctures. Took it off and binned it. Rather have the pain.

most patches are 3rd daily,some weekly and may take some time to build up in the system.
I new of a bloke who had got his hands on a few weekly patches from an in-law,unfortunately he slapped about 3 on and guess what,he didn't wake up.
Fixed his pain though  


cheers   moredeep

Mine was a weekly one of minimum dose. (Norspan). A bit of a trial coz nothing else was working.....Except endone which works fine for a few hours and lets me feel like a human being again but doc won't prescribe it not even one bloody tab. When I had my knee replaced a couple of years ago .they fed me on Endone in hosp and gave me a few for after I was released from hosp. A 20 day supply lasted me 6 months. They are good but not that good for me to become dependent on them. Too many not so good side effects but it was nice to have a couple on stand by for really bad days or when I was doing tree trimming and gardening or tecting which winds up the pain levels in my back and knees a tad.... Anyhoo now I have panadol which is literally a pain in the a...s coz it causes constipation and does nothing for pain of any kind, so I don't take it. Instead I go to a Chiro and have plenty of Thai massage.

A good mate of mine went to the doc and asked for analgesia and the doc refused him.[acute on chronic back pain]
My mate said in a serious way to the doc; well a bottle a whiskey a day should ease the pain .
The doc apparently spluttered a little and said you can't do that,"just watch me was the reply"
He walked out with his script for a codeine based analgesia. 


cheers    moredeep

I thought the topic was SMRs Small Modular reactors?

Nahhh SMR's were getting boring, now it's WOO's..."Whisky Or Opioids"

better still, WAO'S   whiskey and opioids >>>>reactorless


cheers   moredeep

I am fed up to the back teeth with not being able to be prescribed pain relief that actually works.
Doctors are under pressure not to prescribe stuff that works because a person might become addicted to it. No point making the stuff if they are pressured not to prescribe it....so yeah whisky is better than nothing. Might not take pain away but when yer pissed who cares about pain.

planetcare wrote: I thought the topic was  SMRs Small Modular reactors?

I have my own little reactor here.
It is a small Vistosaware ceramic dish from the late 50s  that is cooking at 71 uSvh.  With an alpha and beta shield in place the counter reads 0.28 uSvh, so I guess this dish is cooking at mostly alpha and beta radiation.  Not a dish I would lick clean or hang around my neck on a chain aye.

what's it made of ? and why does it admit radiation?


cheers    moredeep

Back in the 30s and 40s this stuff was referred to as Uranium glass.Have never really found a worthwhile explanation as to why anybody would want to load their kitchenware with uranium. For certain they did not understand the dangers.
I had a large collection and eventually got rid of it all. Looked good in the glass cabinets all lit up by UV lights.

https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer%20products/vaseline.htm

Thi vistosa is ceramic and there is/was another mob who made similar stuff...In the States. I have just 2 of these plates now and are kept at a safe distance with radiation stickers on them to keep sticky fingers away. It is illegal to make anything radioactive for public use these days. Although some smoke detectors use a bit of radioactive material to respond to smoke.
Mantles in the old mantle lamps were laced with thorium which enhanced the light output. Not nice to breath in the dust from those things when they crumbled while being changed. Todays mantle s are non radioactive. Not as bright as the oldies but good enough.

If you have any of this Vistosaware and don't know it is radioactive , the only way you can find out is to get a geiger counter. This stuff is much more active than green uranium glass

yep,iv'e seen that glass on display,looks very cool,I will avoid it like the plague or covid

cheers    moredeep

The uranium green glassware is fairly low level radiation in the range of 1.0 to 8.0 uSvh. Some pieces can be very high at around several hundred milliRems and is dangerous to your health. 10 uSvh or 0.01 milliRemsper hour  is considered the daily human allowance limit.
This stuff is emitting mainly beta particles and very low level gamma rays. Gamma rays will go through just about anything . Beta particles are stopped by a few sheets of paper.
Radioactive materials that emit alpha and beta particles are most harmful when swallowed, inhaled, absorbed, or injected. ... Beta particles can partially penetrate skin, causing “beta burns”. Alpha particles cannot penetrate intact skin. Gamma and x-rays can pass through a person damaging cells in their path.

The energy levels of the back ground radiation that we are exposed to on a daily basis is in the range of 0.05 million electron volts to 5 million electron volts. This stuff passes through us every moment of every day in Australia at approx 0.18 uSvh without noticeable harm.......As far as we know.

Here are a few items of glass I still have.
Light up quite well.

owned by the hulk?


cheers   moredeep

A little bit of uranium glass history:

https://dustyoldthing.com/uranium-glass-spotlight/


While use of uranium as a coloring agent has been in practice for hundreds of years, it wasn’t until the mid 1800s that it became common in glass-making, and only in the 1880s that it gained massive popularity. From there, uranium oxide was a commonplace component (creating the standard yellow, Vaseline-colored glass), with the addition of iron oxide (rust) added later to make each piece more green, in accordance with popular demand. This practice continued until World War I when stringent laws were made, making uranium a heavily regulated substance. Deregulation occurred in 1958, but Uranium/Vaseline glass produced after that wasn’t the same as before, due to the depleted uranium that was used instead of the more radioactive strain from before.

If you are a gem cutter I would advise against cutting uranium glass. You do not want to breath in the dust or get a scratch or cut contaminated with it.

How much uranium glass would it take to power an SMR?

When compared to Baseload Stations that I work in this is small, but massive compared to any battery system at full power for 24 hours.

Nimitz class aircraft carrier masses 100,000 tonnes 1092 feet long and 252 foot beam. It floats 134 feet above the water line.

The ship is powered by 2 Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors that generate steam to power 4 steam turbines that produce 194 MW total power (260,000 horsepower). The reactors operate continuously for 25 years.

The ship carries 3 million gallons of jet fuel which can provide up to 1000 refills of its air wing.

Making Jet fuel from Sea Water

The nuclear reactor currently desalts water for drinking on board. This is easily modified to produce hydrogen gas from sea water using high temperature electrolysis using this nuclear source.

A 75 MW steam turbine produces 43.2 tonnes of hydrogen per day which is sufficient to produce 43,718 gallons of kerosene per day. 68.62 days to produce 3 million gallons or 1000 refills. 15 flights per day with zero fuel use.

Well there ya go. Why are we stuffing around with wind and solar power.

adrian ss wrote:Well there ya go. Why are we stuffing around with wind and solar power.

Nuclear power stations are not appropriate for Australia – and probably never will be
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/nuclear-power-stations-are-not-appropriate-for-australia-and-probably-never-will-be/?atb=DSA01b&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3fXijbvC7wIVldGWCh3Fmwp_EAAYASAAEgKj1PD_BwE

Planetcare, the main argument we continually see against all fossil fuel power generators is that they cause greenhouse gasses.

In your last post the Climate Council states that nuclear reactors do not contribute greenhouse gasses to the environment, but the building process does.

I have been stating this for many years in regard to electric cars. They don't contribute any greenhouse gasses either, but their manufacturing process does. The batteries do as well.
What are the wind turbines made of? Fresh air????    If anyone believes that there is any power generation device that doesn't contribute any indirect greenhouse gasses they are delusional. Everything has to be built from something. The materials must be mined, smelted, built, etc. Every step of the process creates greenhouse gasses even if the device doesn't.

Where do the rare earth magnets used in the wind turbines come from? What is the process used to extract these rare minerals? What is the effect on the local communities where these mines are located?

I am not a climate denier, and I believe that we all must do something to lessen the amount of gasses released, but to say that "renewable" energy is the answer are definitely not looking at the big picture.

I can tell you that the Italian Alps certainly don't look the same with a line of wind turbines stretching across them. Nor does the North Sea with them scattered all over the sea. They are not a thing of beauty. Without government subsidies would they be economic to build and run?
What happens to all the solar panels when they reach end of life?

Regards Axtyr.

planetcare wrote:

adrian ss wrote:Well there ya go. Why are we stuffing around with wind and solar power.

Nuclear power stations are not appropriate for Australia – and probably never will be
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/nuclear-power-stations-are-not-appropriate-for-australia-and-probably-never-will-be/?atb=DSA01b&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3fXijbvC7wIVldGWCh3Fmwp_EAAYASAAEgKj1PD_BwE

Australia is perfectly suited to Nuclear powered electricity generation.
Vast deposits of radio active ore. Wide open spaces with very little population density. (reactors can be placed well away from cities). Constant available power output. as against irregular and weak solar and wind power supply. Batteries are toxic and should not even be in the equation.

Also re Wind farms:
https://stopthesethings.com/2019/12/20/killer-app-offshore-wind-turbines-wiping-out-entire-bird-species/