OT: Rolls Royce on track to deliver SMR

[The Natural Philosopher]

Rolls Royce, who uniquely do not employ Art Students to design power stations, have completed feasibility studies on what will be if it comes to pass, the first reactor design in Britain to have been designed by engineers for low cost mass production, using no new or exciting technology, just doing well known stuff better and cheaper.

interestingly they address the issue of synthetic hydrocarbon fuel as well as potential hydrogen generation.

The cost estimates are encouraging.

3-4 times cheaper on electricity than any renewable, and only twice the current price of fossil on aviation fuel.

And capital investment in reach of private finance opening the way to build power stations for the likes of pension fund investors without needing government financial support.

[Tim Lamb]

In message <s05djh$3jh$ [e-mail], The Natural Philosopher [e-mail] writes

I'm rather taken with the seismic isolation concept, 1.5 acre concrete raft on a bed of pebbles!

Cooling water has always seemed to be an issue for siting nuclear power. Are these small enough to manage with towers and a pond?

[GB]

I was taken with his choice of words: "we believe that nuclear power can really mushroom". :)

[The Natural Philosopher]

I think nukes always were. Seawater is just cheaper.

lets face it if a 1.2GW CCGT can get away with a cooling tower, a 46MW SMR should be able to.

And of course other options exist. Low grade heat still has value. Think of undersoil heating for greenhouses nearby.

And they are of course linking it to desalination as well - a nuclear power station using seawater to cool it and evaporating and condensing fresh water is a handy thing to have.

[T i m]

<snip>

;-)

And I wonder how many would want one ITBY, even compared with a solar farm, wind turbine(s) or a biofuel / gas powered station?

Obviously Turnip would be happy with it in his BY ... ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[charles]

But it can cause massive corrosion problems

[Jethro_uk]

If things continue at this pace, excellent news.

Especially the possibility for desalination - plonk a few of these around the parts of the world that need water and consider the electricity a handy by product :)

[Andy Burns]

Isn't the electricity /used/ to do the desalination?

[Jethro_uk]

Humour fail :)

Although, come to think of it, no. Well, not necessarily.

Nuclear reactor. Shedloads of serious heat (i.e. >100C) might as well just distil the seawater. Unless you want to extract metals by electrolysis I guess ?

It is possible to reclaim desert (or so I have been told) if you can irrigate and foliate enough area to start releasing water. Although it has to be *very* big.

[Pancho]

AIUI the mainly use reverse osmosis, not distilation.

[Pancho]

You've come around to the idea of hydrogen generation?

[Jethro_uk]

You mean like what I was suggesting a few days ago ?

:)

Or something else ?

[Steve Walker]

But would only need to pass through the seawater pipes, pumps and heat-exchangers, with a duty, standby and backup arrangement. As corrosion takes effect, one can be taken out of service for replacement/refurbishment, still leaving a duty and standby.

[AnthonyL]

I've got my order in for one. Should power this locality nicely. Just need a few mods. Not enough room for solar farm, wind turbines and I don't want more carbons going into the atmosphere - defeats the objective.

[Tim Streater]

Anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together.

Solar farm - doesn't work much in winter, or at night all year round. Wind turbine - f****ng noisy if you're near it, doesn't produce much and often none at all. Others - no gas to this village.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Mostly that doesn't seem to have been a problem. After all seawater cooling has been used on steamships since whenever

filters blocked with seaweed seems to be more common

[The Natural Philosopher]

Actually no.

the waste heat does that.

Boil some seawater, channel the steam through a condenser (cooled by more seawater) and voilà! - fresh water

You would probably build it just for that, since steam is what comes out of a PWR.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Most deserts I have known will grow anything as long as you add water.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, I think it is a shit idea. But its fashionable among Art Students Gimme synJet any day run my car and my central heating on that.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I only mentioned it to keep you happy. Same as RR did. The nuclear industry is playing to the green gallery with cheap zero carbon electricity and 'hydrogen'.

The fact is that if RR can make the prices they claim and the government doesn't get NutNutzed, they will wipe the floor with renewables.