Quote:
Originally Posted by ttoyoda
Can you give us a hint to this new tech? maybe a link somewhere? Please?  |
Laser Ignition Fussion-Fission Energy (LIFE) Essentially a fusion-fission hybrid reactor. Don't wrinkle up your nose until you read the rest of this...
no links that I could locate, too new I guess.
Here's the story: Nuclear power plants for electricity is really being given a second look in this country (USA), and for good reason. China is bringing up ultra-dirty coal fired powerplants at a rate of 1 per 4 days. India about 1 per week. Look at the air quality there during this summer's olymics, you don't want that in your backyard, and this planet is everyone's backyard!
Nuclear power from fission is old news, the positives have always been no CO2 output, no air polution, plentiful fuel supply for relatively cheap electricity. The huge, and I mean HUGE negatives have always included well founded safety concerns from more than one angle, lots of nasty waste to deal with (waste stream to guard and store), danger of a runaway Cherynoble-type meltdown, and developing counties can use powerplant-grade fuel to help spawn their own weapons program (huge political ramifications) as conventional fuel is only a couple steps away from being weapons grade.
Good news! This new technology is being looked at right now, that make this operation much more attractive. LIFE uses laser power to start and maintain the reaction. Their are several really cool aspects, such as it uses very low grade fuel, no enrichment processing needed, so the technology is safe to export. The fuel is almost completely consumed (a current spent and no longer reaction sustainable fuel rod is less than 25% consumed). The new tecnology says 1 cubic foot of low grade fuel would be reduced to 1/2 gram of ash, dangerous for only about 100 years. A single Yucca Mountain facility could hold generations worth of waste from hundreds of plants, where today Yucca mountain is almost fully subscribed with waiting waste from conventional plants. There is no critical mass, essentially the laser excits and maintains the event. Turn off the laser, and the event stops (fails safe). Old fuel rods can be mined and reclaimed, their unused fuel throw on the nuclear BBQ and energy extracted! How cool is that?
Who knows, maybe in 2030 the first plant will be operational...
I've said too much... the black helicopters are circling.... j/k it's public domain stuff