machininJun 1, 2024

Small modular nuclear reactors get a reality check in new report

https://lemmy.world/post/16046385

Small modular nuclear reactors get a reality check in new report - Lemmy.World

>[T]he report’s executive summary certainly gets to the heart of their findings. >“The rhetoric from small modular reactor (SMR) advocates is loud and persistent: This time will be different because the cost overruns and schedule delays that have plagued large reactor construction projects will not be repeated with the new designs,” says the report. “But the few SMRs that have been built (or have been started) paint a different picture – one that looks startlingly similar to the past. Significant construction delays are still the norm and costs have continued to climb.”

Show threadpyrflieJun 1, 2024
So looking at the article it seems to be against small scale traditional (fission/boiler) systems. Which are fair game. They were pretty much outdated over 50 years ago. I would be more interested in studies on dispersed Thorium Reactors which held far more potential as little as a decade ago.
Show threadvzqJun 1, 2024

Nuclear technologies missed their window. The use cases where they are the best technical solution now are extremely limited, and that means you can get the investment going to improve them.

It’s a curiosity now.

Show threadDagwood222Jun 1, 2024
So, essentially, nuclear power is like airships, except with worse disasters?
Show threadArlaerionJun 2, 2024
More people died in airship incidents rhan in civil nuclear power.
Show threadDagwood222
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster
Chernobyl disaster - Wikipedia

Jun 2, 2024 at 11:40amWeb
Show threadArlaerionJun 2, 2024

Yeah, read it. Also the article with the discussion. 31 immediate deaths 60 attributable in the following two decades

The official estimate with 4000 more cancer deaths until 2050 is based on the disputed LNT model. Even UNSCEAR (the ones with the 4000 estimate) itself says:

The Scientific Committee does not recommend multiplying very low doses by large numbers of individuals to estimate numbers of radiation-induced health effects within a population exposed to incremental doses at levels equivalent to or lower than natural background levels.

smh.com.au/…/let-s-separate-the-urban-myths-from-…

theguardian.com/…/anti-nuclear-lobby-misled-world

Dr. Thomas shares that contrary to popular belief there is a scientific consensus that the Chernobyl accident has resulted in the deaths of less than 55 people as a result of radiation.

The two airship accidents with the most casualties count together 120 dead (USS Akron and Dixmude).

Let's separate the urban myths from Chernobyl's scientific facts

A professor of molecular pathology, who has studied the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident for 27 years, confronts the "scaremongering".

The Sydney Morning Herald