China to Pioneer Melt-Down Proof Reactors

pease1 writes "FT.com reports China is poised to develop the world's first commercially operated "pebble bed" nuclear reactor. If successfully commercialized, the pebble bed reactor would be the first radically new reactor design for several decades. It would push China to the forefront of development of a technology that researchers claim offers a new "meltdown-proof" alternative to standard water-cooled nuclear power stations." This was mentioned in September of last year but now looks as though the plan is moving forward.

Comments

China's rise to power

[GuyMannDude]

Somedays I'm convinced that China will become the sole economic superpower in the world in our lifetime. The US may still have a powerful military decades from now but it really looks like the Chinese want success more than we do. The fact that they are moving ahead with nuclear power is an example. Here in the US, you just can't get any kind of nuclear power plant built. We continue to use rediculous amounts of electricity but resist any attempts at becoming self-sufficient. The Chinese are hungry to improve their country while we Americans have become complacent and feel like we will always be on top. Once our debt gets to the point that other countries will no longer invest in us, we'll sink like a stone and China will take over (economically). They just want success more than we do.

GMD

Re:China's rise to power

[the-build-chicken]

Once our debt gets to the point that other countries will no longer invest in us

Nah, I don't really think America has to worry about its foreign debt too much...it's 4.4 trillion dollars...like they say, if you owe the bank $1000, you've got a problem...if you owe the bank $1000000, the banks got a problem. People won't stop investing because they're relying on the money coming back to them at some point in the future...so America can happily go on incuring more and more debt because they've gotten to a stage were other countries can't afford not to let them. Smart move when you think of it, building a superpower using other people money.

Re:China's rise to power

[Vaystrem]

A few things.

If you read the Wired article you will see that we too pursued pebble reactors, but due to the fuel rod type being more viable for military applications (like for navy ships) that is where the research dollars went and voila that's why we are where we are right now.

Second, China is not the only one to pioneer this. There have been working Pebble Reactors in Germany and, get this, South Africa soon as well.

Simultaneously its not that they want to improve their country more than we do its a question of logistics.

China has relatively few, intact, natural resources and everything is imported from much further away than it is to the United States. There still is significant coal, oil, and natural gas production in the United States, while its mostly just coal within China, very dirty and quickly being depleted.

As well the United States borders on the pacific and atlantic, making it easier for us to get goods from different parts of the world. China is 'mostly' landlocked and in a situation of future conflict (North Korea, Taiwan, Japan is not the sleeping creature many perceive, etc.) it would be very difficult for China to rely upon shipping lanes for necessary resources, hence the push for domestic capacity.

Finally, China and India simply are out educating the rest of the world. They both put out more engineers per year than exist within the United States. They do not have as much resources 'yet' but its pretty fantastic when you stop to think that an engineer in his EARLY 30s could be the head of China's space program. That being said, when you can pick the best of the best from 1.2 billion people - you get some amazing individuals.

The Western World's technological dominance will not last forever. If you want to see this as the first harbinger of that, feel free, but it is not the only sign.

Re:China's rise to power

[El Cabri]

Here's how it works : China manufactures a huge amount of shoes, electronics, cloths, etc, while much of their own popultion leves with no electricity at home and one pair of shoes for the whole family. How come ? Low standard of living is accepted in the same way that it was accepted by pioneers in the Wild West : they know and are conviced that the future of their children is bright, that they will themselves be better off the next year. Throw in an oppressive central government and you have 1.3 bn+ people sticking together on the path of industrialization and toward being the most powerful single nation economy in the world.

The bank's problem, as you say ? Currency is just paper, or at least it has been since the USD stopped being pegged to gold in the 70s, and the effective ultimate world currency became oil. What will happen is that China will gradually keep more and more of the shoes and DVD players that they make for their own population, trigering inflation in those countries that depend too much on imports for the comfort of their citizens.

The US govt bet is that this process will be too slow and that the Chinese population will grow impatient, spoiled and greedy, undermining the central authority and breaking up the country into a myriad of third world, submissive entities.

What ever happened to Integral Fast Reactors?

[Nova Express]

Whatever happened to "Integral Fast Reactors" I heard about in the late 1980s, which were also supposed to be meltdown-proof? My understanding was that the configuration of the rods was such that if the reaction moved beyond a certain range, it actually dapened the reaction. (I'm relying on memory, and Google is of limited help, so forgive me for being fuzzy on the details.)

Weapons potential?

[MrZaius]

Should this spread from China to the increasingly energy-hungry South Asian and African nations, will it have to be as heavily controlled as conventional reactors? Is it possible to use a pebble bed reactor to create weapons grade uranium or plutonium?

Actually...

[HarveyBirdman]

...nuke waste can, for the most part, be recycled. The media, however, is too busy playing boogeyman, and leading us down the path to being a 4th world country with horse drawn wagons and biomass generators providing citizens enough electricity to light a 20W bulb.

Re:Meltdown proof? Hah!

[Rei]

> Please find the way to make the reactor melt down in the above scenario

Simple: Pebbles jam. It happened in Germany. If they're jammed, they can't expand properly.

Of course, the biggest risk for a pebble bed is not meltdown but a graphite fire.

If you think that's funny, check out this:

[benhocking]

From the ORNL:

Americans living near coal-fired power plants are exposed to higher radiation doses than those living near nuclear power plants that meet government regulations.

I first heard this fact from a professor of mine, and it made sense at the time as coal is ultimately a source for uranium as well as radium. (That's where the Curies got their uranium from, after all.) This is the first time I did a web-search to verify his statement, and I wasn't surprised to see that it agrees with other people's calculations (Google for "coal radiation").