[ RadSafe ] Chinese fast reactor starts supplying electricity21July 11

Tue Jul 26 12:28:47 CDT 2011

Mike,

---- "Brennan schrieb:
> 
> I can take rad in stride, but tons of molten sodium, surrounded by
> water, would make me nervous.  

Excellent example of  comparative risk assessment! 

I have other examples from my own experience: When I was asked whether I was not afraid of the Chernobyl fallout or whether I was not afraid of going to the contaminated atoll of Mururoa, including areas with high plutonium contamination I used to say that I do not care to work with radioactive material, because this I can easily measure and take precautions, but when working with bacteria or virus there is no instrument to instantly detect them!

Best regards,

Franz 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Ted de Castro
> Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 9:52 AM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Chinese fast reactor starts supplying
> electricity 21July 11
> 
> Not to mention that the USS Seawolf was originally a sodium plant.  I 
> think maybe one or two other US subs were as well (George Washington 
> maybe??) - but can only assuredly speak to the Seawolf.
> 
> On 7/26/2011 8:43 AM, Brennan, Mike (DOH) wrote:
> > The Russians, back in the Soviet days, did do some interesting things
> > with liquid metal cooled reactors.  I remember when I read the real
> > scoop about the lead-bismuth reactors on the Alpha class submarines.
> As
> > a former submariner I was impressed by both the imagination needed to
> > see that as a solution to the power-density problem, and the
> > bone-headedness of not seeing why this might not be a good idea.  I'm
> > not sure which would worry me more: the possibility of a primary
> coolant
> > leak, which means I'm sharing my tube of air with an uncontrolled
> stream
> > of molten metal, or a reactor shutdown that lasts so long the metal in
> > the reactor starts to solidify, which can leave you a long way from
> home
> > with very limited resources for getting back.
> >
> > Still, I wish the Chinese the best of luck with their new reactor.
> The
> > world-wide nuclear power community could use a little good news.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> > [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Maury
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 4:45 AM
> > To: Radsafe
> > Subject: [ RadSafe ] Chinese fast reactor starts supplying electricity
> > 21July 11
> >
> > Forwarded by
> > Maury&Dog [MaurySiskel  maurysis at peoplepc.com]
> > ===========================================
> > WNN
> > New Nuclear
> > Chinese fast reactor starts supplying electricity
> > 21 July 2011
> >
> > Exactly one year after achieving first criticality, China's
> experimental
> >
> > fast neutron reactor has been connected to the electricity grid.
> >
> > At 10.00am today, the head of China National Nuclear Corporation
> (CNNC),
> >
> > Sun Qin, declared to workers and officials gathered in the Chinese
> > Experimental Fast Reactor's (CEFR's) control room that the unit had
> > successfully achieved grid connection.
> >
> > The sodium-cooled, pool-type fast reactor has been constructed with
> some
> >
> > Russian assistance at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIEA),
> near
> > Beijing, which undertakes fundamental research on nuclear science and
> > technology. The reactor has a thermal capacity of 65 MW and can
> produce
> > 20 MW in electrical power. The CEFR was built by Russia's OKBM
> > Afrikantov in collaboration with OKB Gidropress, NIKIET and Kurchatov
> > Institute.
> >
> > Xu Mi, chief engineer at the CEFR program at CIEA, told Bloomberg that
> > the unit was connected to the grid at 40% capacity. "The next step for
> > us is to increase the generating capacity of the reactor to 100% while
> > connected to the grid," he said. "After that, we can use the
> technology
> > to build our own commercial fast reactors."
> >
> > Beyond the pilot plant, China once planned a 600 MWe commercial scale
> > version by 2020 and a 1500 MWe version in 2030 but these ambitious
> ideas
> >
> > have been overtaken by the import of ready-developed Russian designs.
> In
> >
> > October 2009, an agreement was signed by CIAE and China Nuclear Energy
> > Industry Corporation (CNEIC) with AtomStroyExport to start pre-project
> > and design works for a commercial nuclear power plant with two BN-800
> > reactors with construction to start in August 2011, probably at a
> > coastal site. The project is expected to lead to bilateral cooperation
> > of fuel cycles for fast reactors, which promise to vastly extend the
> > fuel value of uranium as well as reduce radioactive wastes.
> >
> > In April 2010, a joint venture company was established for the
> > construction of China's first commercial-scale fast neutron reactor,
> > near the inland city of Sanming in Fujian province. The joint venture
> -
> > Sanming Nuclear Power Co Ltd - was established by CNNC, Fujian
> > Investment and Development Corp and the municipal government of
> Sanming
> > city. CNNC holds a majority stake in the venture.
> >
> >
> >
> > Researched and written
> >
> > by World Nuclear News
> >
> >
> >
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--
Franz Schoenhofer, PhD, MinRat
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Austria
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