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China to Pioneer Melt-Down Proof Reactors

Posted by Zonk on from the energy-for-the-biggest-red-state dept.

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.

3 of 846 comments (clear)

  1. Yawn... by TheKidWho · · Score: 0, Troll

    You make it sound as if China invented the damned things. They didn't invent pebble bed reactors.

    Either way, blame nuclear activists for us not having lots of nuclear power in the US, those damned hippies...

  2. Re:Safe Nuclear Power by cliffski · · Score: 1, Troll

    plus even if you have a *safe* place to put it, you need to trasnport this stuff and store it, for thousands of years. To safeguard this stuff you have to be lucky every day for maybe ten thousand years. Al Queada need to get lukcy once with a group of guys with RPGs stopping a waste train. Your next headline is a dirty bomb that irradiates manhatten, goodbye american economy.
    Is it REALLY worth this much risk just for you people to stop driving goddammed SUVS?

    --
    DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
  3. The nuclear promise by dbIII · · Score: 0, Troll
    It's funny, but various nuclear power advocates on this site have been telling me that it has already been built. Time to get back to reality guys. We'll know after this goes into operation whether nuclear power lives up to the promise of fifty years ago - since then we've just had plants that are expensive ways to boil water at taxpayers expense.

    It's funny how "cheap" means expensive containment equipment and truly incredible capital costs, while "clean" means something that will kill in proximity. No-one pretends that sewers are "clean", no matter how well everything is contained - pretending with radioactive materials is counterproductive, something useful could have been done about waste disposal other than the token reasearch efforts since you don't have to worry about something that is "clean".