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Liquid fuel nuclear reactors:

low -cost clean energy to spark economic growth and solve the climate /energy/poverty crises. Robert Hargraves OSU Sept 19, 2013. Liquid fuel nuclear reactors:. Government debts are increasing. % debt / GDP. The debt crisis has severe risks. Risks Widespread default and deflation

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Liquid fuel nuclear reactors:

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  1. low-cost clean energy tospark economic growth and solve the climate/energy/poverty crises.Robert Hargraves OSU Sept 19, 2013 Liquid fuel nuclear reactors:

  2. Government debts are increasing. % debt / GDP

  3. The debt crisis has severe risks. Risks Widespread default and deflation Runaway inflation Severe GDP contraction Wealth destruction Collapse of welfare state

  4. Several solutions are unattractive. Risks Widespread default and deflation Runaway inflation Severe GDP contraction Wealth destruction Collapse of welfare state Solutions Austerity? More deficit spending? Devaluation export stimulus? (courtesy Simon Irish, SWH Capital)

  5. Increase productivity to grow out of debt crisis… Risks Widespread default and deflation Runaway inflation Severe GDP contraction Wealth destruction Collapse of welfare state Solutions Austerity? More deficit spending? Devaluation export stimulus? Productivity growth! (courtesy Simon Irish, SWH Capital)

  6. Increase productivity to grow out of debt crisis, with cheap energy. Risks Widespread default and deflation Runaway inflation Severe GDP contraction Wealth destruction Collapse of welfare state Solutions Austerity? More deficit spending? Devaluation export stimulus? Productivity growth! Leverage cheap energy!

  7. Global warming, overpopulation, and resources competition are increasing.

  8. Coal emissions cause 13,000 deaths per year in the US alone.

  9. Melted glaciers cut summer water.

  10. Prosperity stabilizes population. GDPpercapita 82 nations with populations over 10 million. Stable replacement rate Children per woman https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/rankorderguide.html

  11. Prosperity stabilizes population. GDPpercapita 82 nations with populations over 10 million. Stable replacement rate Prosperity Children per woman https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/rankorderguide.html

  12. Prosperity depends on energy. GDPpercapita Nations with populations over 10 million. Prosperity Annual kWh per capita https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2042rank.html

  13. Prosperity depends on cheap energy.        $1 more energy creates $5 more GDP.

  14. Coal burning is increasing sharply in developing nations. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/world.html

  15. China argues its cumulative greenhouse gas emissions are low. 1,125.6tons per person 76.0 tons per person http://pub1.chinadaily.com.cn/cdpdf/us/download.shtml?c=32073

  16. Economics trumps politics.

  17. We need clean energy cheaper than coal. Nations resist carbon taxes. Kyoto failed; Copenhagen failed; Tianjin failed; Cancun failed: Bangkok failed; Bonn failed; Panama failed; Durban failed.

  18. Conservation won’t stop growth. 5520 GW Scenario US cuts electricity use in half. All nations achieve this use. Rest of world 1758 GW 434 GW 217 GW US

  19. We need clean energy cheaper than coal.

  20. Coal electricity costs 5.6 cents/kWh. Advanced, efficient coal plant capital cost:$2.8/watt Capital cost recovery@ 8% over 40 years,run at 90% capacity: 2.8 cents/kWh Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) capital cost, even without carbon capture: $4.76/watt

  21. Natural gas electricity: 4.8 cents/kWh. Comb Cycle Gas Turbine 60% efficient $1.00/watt Fuel Cost $ 5 / million BTU 3.7 cents/kWh if NG @ $ 3 / million BTU 7.3 cents/kWh ifNG Combustion Turbine 30% efficient

  22. Wind electricity costs 18.4 cents/kWh. Capital cost examples $2.44/watt EIA $7.00/watt Deepwater Wind $5.80/watt Cape Wind Capacity factor: 30% Cape Wind cost to utility 16 to 24 cents/kWh

  23. Solar electricity costs 23.5 cents/kWh. Capital cost examples Brightsource, Calif, $5.60/watt Abengoa, Arizona, $5.71/watt Capacity factor: 20% Electricity cost examples Albiasa, 35 cents/kWh AllEarth, 30 cents/kWh

  24. Biomass electricity costs 9.7 cents/kWh. Capital cost examples Nacogdoches TX $5.00/watt Berlin NH $3.67/watt Wood fuel cost examples Burlington VT, $15-30/ton Worchester MA, $22-34/ton Springfield NH, $28/ton

  25. Green energy is not cheaper than coal. Electricity costs, cents/kWh

  26. Carbon intensity continues unabated. Green doesn’t work. Can nuclear?

  27. Weinberg had proposed the PWR for naval propulsion to Rickover's team.

  28. Rickover's drive, Nautilus submarine, and Shippingport power plant 100 US PWRs.

  29. Can yesterday’s solid fuel nuclear reactors compete with natural gas? Kewaunee shut down May 2013. $4/MBTU natural gas can make 4.3 cent/kWh electricity.

  30. Can yesterday’s solid fuel nuclear reactors compete with natural gas? Vermont Yankee shutting down 4th quarter 2014.

  31. Can the new Westinghouse AP1000 provide energy cheaper than coal? Georgia Vogtle plant costs $16 billion for 2.2 GW ($6.4/watt) capital cost recovery= 6.4 cents/kWh + fuel and ops  8.1 cents/kWh

  32. AP1000 energy is not cheaper than coal. Electricity costs, cents/kWh

  33. SpaceX focused on cost innovation. Situation Shuttle complexity. 1970s technology. Innovation Entirely new rocket engine. Small teams, low overhead. First flight after 6 years. SpaceX Falcon 1 $443 million NASA estimate $1.4 to 4 billion.

  34. Can liquid fuel reactors provide energy cost innovation?

  35. Fermi's 1944 liquid fuel reactor measured U-235 critical mass. uranyl sulfate in water all the world's U-235 ! beryllium oxide neutron reflector http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/pubs/00416628.pdf

  36. The aqueous reactor at Oak Ridge generated 140 kW in 1953. At Oak Ridge in 1953, Richard Engel adds 300 g of uranium in 500 ml of heavy water to generate electric power for 2 months, doing the work of 1,000 tons of coal.

  37. Weinberg and Oak Ridge developed the first molten salt nuclear reactor in 1954. 860 C Red hot! 100 hours 2.5 MW

  38. The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment ran 1965-1969. Salt flowed through channels in this graphite core.

  39. Th-232, U-238, and U-235 can provide energy in a nuclear reactor.

  40. DMSR uses fertile Th-232, U-238, and fissile U-235 feeds. Salt changed after U-238 and soluble FPs build up. Xe+Kr+Nobles Waste separator U-233 n n U-235 and U-238 Pu-239 U-238 Heat exchanger U-235 n n Th-232 U-233 Salt Th-232 Fissile U-235 denatured with U-238 is highly proliferation resistant. Turbine and generator

  41. DMSRs can provide energy cheaper than coal. Why? Electricity costs, cents/kWh

  42. MSR cost estimates: ~ $2/watt.

  43. Liquid fuel contributes to low cost. Molten fluoride salt egLiF BeF2 Fissile UF4 dissolved in the salt Excellent heat transfer Atmospheric pressure liquid Key technology -- liquid fuel form!

  44. Walk-away-safe DMSR reduces defense-in-depth systems costs. Stable reactivity. No propulsive pressure. Melting freeze plug dumps salt to tank. Salt from rupture or leak will solidify. Freeze plug

  45. LOW MASS  LOW COST. The small Fireball MSR was to fly on an airplane. 1.4 m diameter

  46. DMSR needs no costly 160-atmosphere pressure vessel and containment dome. “Westinghouse announces successful setting of AP1000 containment vessel top head at China's Haiyang Unit 1” Placement of the CVTH, which weighs approximately 659 tons, was completed at 9:36 a.m., China Time, on March 29.

  47. High-temp closed-cycle Brayton turbine raises power conversion efficiency. Halving rejected heat halves water use

  48. Open-air Brayton-cycle needs no costly water cooling. (Charles Forsberg at ORNL, 2010) https://www.ornl.gov/fhr/presentations/Forsberg.pdf

  49. Compact supercritical CO2turbines may be even less costly. http://web.mit.edu/jessiek/MacData/afs.course.lockers/22/22.33/www/dostal.pdf

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