Mal mit kleinen Brötchen beginnen. Heute: Kleinreaktor per Luftpost.
Zitat Looking like a scene in a sci-fi movie, and in what is clearly a unique mission, dubbed Operation Windlord, USAF C-17s have been tasked with transporting a micro nuclear reactor. The U.S. military’s role is to transport the elements of the Ward250 reactor, made by Valar Atomics, from March Air Reserve Base in Southern California to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Once on the ground in Utah, it will be moved to Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL) in Orangeville for extensive testing. Beyond its direct utility, this operation may very well serve as a glimpse of what’s to come as the Department of Defense looks to integrate micro nuclear reactors into the power grids of critical installations.
A total of three C-17s will bring the components of the Ward250, eight modules in total, to Utah. This is said to be the first time a nuclear reactor has been moved via Globemaster III. The delivery of the Ward250 to USREL is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, established in response to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14301 last year.
DOE’s pilot program is looking to advance developments that could have commercial and military applications. The U.S. military has been pursuing its own micro-reactor efforts in recent years to help bring a resilient, safe, and scalable supply of electricity that is independent from local power grids to its bases. The vulnerability of America’s grid is palpable, and many military facilities are largely reliant on it. The use of micro reactors could also help remote installations that are dependent on their own power plants and future austere bases overseas that may have no direct access to a power grid at all.
The commercial aspects of micro reactors are also what Valar Atomics, and the associated scalable nuclear energy concepts it is perusing, seeks to address under executive order 14301, which jumpstarts a ‘nuclear renaissance’ of sorts for U.S. energy, including powering commercial industries. This could be especially relevant for helping to quench what is becoming an insatiable thirst for electricity from data centers spurred on by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
Valar Atomics’ Ward250 is a next-generation reactor design that uses helium coolant and graphite moderators. At its core is so-called tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel that consists of “uranium kernels encased in ceramic layers,” according to a previous press release from USREL.
Using TRISO nuclear fuels is often described as a way to produce higher performance than would be offered by comparable amounts of traditional fissile material used in power plants today. It is also said to be safer to use and handle. Past reports have said that Valar is aiming for Ward250 to be capable of reaching a 100-kWt (kilowatts of thermal energy) power rating.
Zitat "There is no business case for microreactors, which — even if they work as designed — will produce electricity at a far higher cost than large nuclear reactors, not to mention renewables like wind or solar," said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The Energy Department plans to have three microreactors reach “criticality” — when a nuclear reaction can sustain itself — by July 4, Wright said.
The microreactor in Sunday's event, a little larger than a minivan, can generate up to 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes, according to Valar CEO Isaiah Taylor. It will start operating in July at 100 kilowatts and peak at 250 kilowatts this year before ramping up to full capacity, he said.
Valar hopes to start selling power on a test basis in 2027 and become fully commercial in 2028. Although private industry funds its own development of nuclear technology, it also needs the federal government “doing some enabling actions to allow fuel fabrication here and uranium enrichment here,” he said.
Bitte beachten Sie diese Forumsregeln: Beiträge, die persönliche Angriffe gegen andere Poster, Unhöflichkeiten oder vulgäre Ausdrücke enthalten, sind nicht erlaubt; ebensowenig Beiträge mit rassistischem, fremdenfeindlichem oder obszönem Inhalt und Äußerungen gegen den demokratischen Rechtsstaat sowie Beiträge, die gegen gesetzliche Bestimmungen verstoßen. Hierzu gehört auch das Verbot von Vollzitaten, wie es durch die aktuelle Rechtsprechung festgelegt ist. Erlaubt ist lediglich das Zitieren weniger Sätze oder kurzer Absätze aus einem durch Copyright geschützten Dokument; und dies nur dann, wenn diese Zitate in einen argumentativen Kontext eingebunden sind. Bilder und Texte dürfen nur hochgeladen werden, wenn sie copyrightfrei sind oder das Copyright bei dem Mitglied liegt, das sie hochlädt. Bitte geben Sie das bei dem hochgeladenen Bild oder Text an. Links können zu einzelnen Artikeln, Abbildungen oder Beiträgen gesetzt werden, aber nicht zur Homepage von Foren, Zeitschriften usw. Bei einem Verstoß wird der betreffende Beitrag gelöscht oder redigiert. Bei einem massiven oder bei wiederholtem Verstoß endet die Mitgliedschaft. Eigene Beiträge dürfen nachträglich in Bezug auf Tippfehler oder stilistisch überarbeitet, aber nicht in ihrer Substanz verändert oder gelöscht werden. Nachträgliche Zusätze, die über derartige orthographische oder stilistische Korrekturen hinausgehen, müssen durch "Edit", "Nachtrag" o.ä. gekennzeichnet werden. Ferner gehört das Einverständnis mit der hier dargelegten Datenschutzerklärung zu den Forumsregeln.
Sie sind vermutlich noch nicht im Forum angemeldet - Klicken Sie hier um sich kostenlos anzumelden
Offline