("Natrium" means "sodium" in Latin.) Liquid sodium has a higher boiling point and can absorb a lot more heat than water, which means high pressure does not build up inside the reactor. So TerraPower's Natrium plant uses a different method, pioneered decades ago: liquid sodium as a cooling agent. The problem is, that steam can also build up and create pressure inside of a reactor, which has the potential to cause an explosion. The steam then turns a turbine to produce electricity. In conventional nuclear power plants, called light-water nuclear reactors, water absorbs that heat, turning it to steam. Nuclear fission, a process where atoms split and release a large amount of energy, generates a lot of heat. Levesque envisions that TerraPower will help the United States become a dominant force in nuclear power as other countries transition their energy grids, "the United States will once again export reactors that set the standard for the world, just as we did for today's conventional reactors," Levesque says.ĭespite nuclear power's baneful reputation, it is actually the safest form of power generation when analyzed by deaths per unit of electricity generated, according to Gates.Īnd TerraPower's Natrium Reactor plants will be safer still, thanks in large part to a more reliable cooling system for its reactors. "We envision a 2050 grid that is powered by very significant wind and solar power, but is complemented by" Terra Power nuclear reactors, TerraPower president and CEO, Chris Levesque, tells CNBC Make It. federal government to demonstrate the viability of nuclear power through its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), TerraPower aims to build "fully functional advanced nuclear reactor within 7 years of the award," according to the Office of Nuclear Energy at the U.S. The paper terminates with a discussion of the vexing problem, in the public view, of the safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel.But Gates was also interested in the potential of nuclear power as a clean energy.Īfter reading a paper about a new generation of nuclear reactors built with technical advancements to guard against such accidents, Gates founded TerraPower in 2008 to realize the benefits of these innovations. In my view, the fast breeder reactor, when fully developed, will be the primary, and probably inevitable, energy source during much of the next century. Special reactors not part of the energy picture, such as, training and production reactors, are not covered. Other types that received some attention but are now largely ignored, such as, the fluid-fueled and organic-cooled reactors, are mentioned only in the introduction.
It then describes the above reactor types and existing examples. This paper begins with historical and introductory remarks. This, then, is the state of the art in nuclear fission. Engineers have, rightly so, concentrated on improving the design, safety, and operation of proven systems, such as, the pressurized-water, boiling-water, and gas-cooled thermal reactors, and in building demonstration plants of the known but yet unproven fast breeder reactor. Because of the pace of development and the still lingering destructive specter, public acceptance problems have arisen.ĭuring the recent past, nothing much that is really new has emerged in fission. As with all complex technologies, the first generation of power plants needs improvements in design, construction, and operation. The time span between discovery and utilization has been dizzyingly short when compared with other technologies. Since the discovery of nuclear fission by Hahn and Strassman in 1938, great strides have led to its utilization in first, unfortunately, destructive uses, then in peaceful uses for meeting the increasing demand for abundant and reliable electric power.
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