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A comment on To Slow Global Warming, We Need Nuclear Power (Op-Ed). Parent comment

Re:To Slow Global Warming, We Need Nuclear Power (Op-Ed) by tim333 on Thursday December 22, 2016 @12:09PM (#13238605)
I didn't know the Nixon stuff. Nick Touran has a good summary of the practical difficulties if you haven't seen it https://whatisnuclear.com/reactors/msr.html#problems
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Re:To Slow Global Warming, We Need Nuclear Power (Op-Ed) by spangry on Thursday December 22, 2016 @02:37PM (#13239696)
Thanks for the link, it's an interesting read.

It definitely seems like the big challenge for MSRs is of the materials/chemical engineering variety. I guess some of these could be designed around: for instance I've heard Kirk Sorensen (LFTR advocate) suggest situating the entire reactor and plumbing complex in a drain/basin of sorts. In the case of a pipe break the fuel(s) simply drains in to a passively cooled storage tank (deep underground).

Also some of the chemical handling would require great care. Fluorine, for instance, is not something I'd want to mess around with...

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