Reactor could power ORNL, Y-12

[Marlin]

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — If it's built, a "small" 125-megawatt nuclear reactor could generate enough electricity to power the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, ORNL Director Thom Mason said Monday.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, urged Energy Secretary Steven Chu to consider using a small, modular reactor at ORNL.

Mason said the proposal is still in a "brainstorming" phase, and it is not yet clear where the reactor could be built. One possible site would be the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor site, a 1,300-acre site in West Oak Ridge, where a now-scrapped reactor was to be built in the 1980s.


http://www.oakridger.com/localnews/x1540369987/Reactor-could-power-ORNL-Y-12

[Preciousblue1965]

ORNL has a lot of reactors out there.  Some still work, some don't.  I know a few people out there, and they managed to get me an uncontrolled folder that talks about the history of all of their reactors.  Really interesting read. 

[Marlin]

ORNL has a lot of reactors out there.  Some still work, some don't.  I know a few people out there, and they managed to get me an uncontrolled folder that talks about the history of all of their reactors.  Really interesting read. 

   I don't know if thirteen is a lot (not when compared to Idaho). You can get a tour of the old graphite reactor here and there is a lot of other history around the reservation, the Alpha five building that I am working on now was the location of the Calutrons that originally enriched uranium for the Manhattan Project. The American Science Museum in Oak Ridge has a lot of the relics from the "old days"  of the Project with enough general science and interactive stuff to keep the kids interested. I have taken a number of visiting family younglings to it and they seemed to enjoy it.

www.ornl.gov/info/reports/2009/3445605700845.pdf

[LaFeet]

Marlin's Rules
Don't wrestle with pigs...

Don't argue with idiots...

Is this not the same statement?

[Marlin]

Marlin's Rules
Don't wrestle with pigs...

Don't argue with idiots...

Is this not the same statement?

Don't wrestle with pigs, you both get dirty and the pig likes it.

Don't argue with idiots, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.


Not quite the same but close.

[LaFeet]

We should build one.  Crate some jobs during the construction as well as for operations.  And the location would allow SAFESTOR establishment with little or no public outcry.

[HydroDave63]

Even from the non-nuclear electric side, these reactors would rock!  They would be in the MW capacity range to be carried on as low as 115 kV lines, meaning that any utility wanting to host a single unit (not optimal, but just for sake of discussion) would be able to host any of these reactors in more remote locations just as wind facilities presently can be constructed. Smaller increment of generation allows smaller reserve sharing groups to host all-you-can-eat quantities of these without a huge MSSC, so it doesn't raise operating reserve issues. Makes it easier to comply with NERC standards. There is a lot to like here!

[Marlin]

Engineering and construction giant Bechtel Corp. is expected to disclose Wednesday that it will partner with nuclear vendor Babcock & Wilcox Co. to bring a small, commercial reactor design to market.

Closely held Bechtel declined to reveal its investment in the venture other than to say it is "substantial" and affirms its optimism about prospects for new plant designs that could make nuclear power affordable to smaller utilities and get new plants into operation faster.

Babcock's reactor currently exists only on paper. Still, it is attracting interest, especially from smaller utilities that want substitutes for coal-fired plants but can't afford standard-sized nuclear reactors that are 10 times the size of Babcock's 125-megawatt unit.

http://www.babcock.com/products/modular_nuclear/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834604575365290043159312.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

[co60slr]

Engineering and construction giant Bechtel Corp. is expected to disclose Wednesday that it will partner with nuclear vendor Babcock & Wilcox Co. to bring a small, commercial reactor design to market.

Closely held Bechtel declined to reveal its investment in the venture other than to say it is "substantial" and affirms its optimism about prospects for new plant designs that could make nuclear power affordable to smaller utilities and get new plants into operation faster.

Babcock's reactor currently exists only on paper. Still, it is attracting interest, especially from smaller utilities that want substitutes for coal-fired plants but can't afford standard-sized nuclear reactors that are 10 times the size of Babcock's 125-megawatt unit.

http://www.babcock.com/products/modular_nuclear/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834604575365290043159312.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

What provides power to ORNL today?  ;-)

[HydroDave63]

What provides power to ORNL today?  ;-)

Probably the closest plant would be this one:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1330119/tva_coal_ash_spill_in_river_near_harriman.html