DailyDirt: The Future Of Nuclear Energy

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The nuclear power industry is currently dominated by light-water reactor designs from the 1940-50s. These reactors use ordinary water (aka light water) as the fluid for transferring thermal energy to turbines that generate electricity, but there are other nuclear reactor designs that could be safer and produce less problematic radioactive waste. Fusion reactors aren't ready to generate any energy yet, but they're getting closer (just another 30 years, promise). If you're interested in atomic energy, check out the links below.

• The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has achieved the breakthrough milestone of creating more energy from a fusion reaction than was used to start the reaction, but it's not quite the break-even point yet due to energy losses in the 192 lasers used to zap the hydrogen isotopes. Still, this is the closest that a fusion reactor of any design has ever come to the point of generating energy. [url]
• Alternative nuclear fission technologies may be getting a second chance as more people realize that nuclear energy is a viable option for replacing energy generated from fossil fuels. Molten salt reactors, fast reactors, high-temperature reactors, small modular reactors and other alternatives to conventional light-water reactors still have plenty of regulatory hurdles to overcome, but next generation nuclear power plants could become a significant source of energy in the coming decades. [url]
• France is well-known for its significant investments in nuclear energy and relying on nuclear power for about 75% of its energy needs. However, the French could be leaning away from nuclear energy and moving more towards solar and wind, possibly shifting some nuclear technology leadership to China and South Korea. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: atomic energy, breeder reactor, energy, fission, fusion, ignition, molten salt, nif, nuclear, reactor, renewable energy

DailyDirt: Fusion Without A Star

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Man-made fusion reactors always seem to be 30-50 years away, even though the sun fuses atoms all the time, mocking us with its immense generation of free fusion energy. Sure, there have been a couple of wunderkinds who've built fusion reactors in their spare time, but the trick is generating a surplus of energy -- not just fusing atoms for fun. Here are a few interesting links on inertial confinement fusion.

• The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is approaching its break-even point for generating as much energy as it consumes. This $3.5 billion facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory shoots lasers at an ignition target of hydrogen isotopes to get the nuclei to fuse and release energy, and it might look more promising than the ITER's tokamak facilities. However, the NIF is more of a proof of concept, not a practical design for generating commercial amounts of energy. [url]
• Two UK-based organizations are interested in commercializing the NIF's fusion reactor and creating a self-sustaining fusion reaction. Such a reactor would have to go through more than 10 fuel pellets each second, but the NIF facility has only burned through about 300 since it started operating in 2009. [url]
• A watchdog group, Tri-Valley CAREs, argues that the NIF should be regulated before it releases more radioactive particles like tritium into the environment. The Department of Energy says that radioactive releases have been below the EPA's safety limits, but Tri-Valley CAREs is concerned about the effects of radioactive materials accumulating around Livermore, CA. [url]
• To discover more stuff on alternative energy, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

As always, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: energy, epa, fusion, iter, laser ignition, nif, nuclear reactors