Re:Wildfire threatening the power grid that supplies San Fra...
by tehwalrus on Saturday August 24, 2013 @01:16PM
(#6269173)
...
molten salt reactors (the kind in the comment at the top of this thread) are at atmospheric pressure, and are designed with a drain plug which isolates the (very hot) materials from the neutron source, after which they cool down happily on their own in a separate but similarly shielded compartment.
release of materials is one of the most unlikely outcomes ever.
Re:Wildfire threatening the power grid that supplies San Fra...
by hga on Saturday August 24, 2013 @01:47PM
(#6269254)
You really can't imagine a release of materials outcome in the context of active sabotage?
(Which is relevant in the context of massive distributed ones; current nuclear power systems mitigate this by being few in number such that they can be well guarded.)
Re:Wildfire threatening the power grid that supplies San Fra...
by tehwalrus on Saturday August 24, 2013 @05:30PM
(#6269858)
since you can't weaponise the mixture, and it's just stupidly hot and dangerous for a while and then inert, I can't see why anyone would try to sabotage one. (apart from terrorists just out to cause mayhem, but that argument also works for cars, roads, planes, train stations, etc right?)
Re:Wildfire threatening the power grid that supplies San Fra...
by fnordfnordfnord on Saturday August 24, 2013 @01:18PM
(#6269178)
The addition of uranium or plutonium is unnecessary for operation of a LFTR, rather it is being sold as an extra advantage that a LFTR can safely consume the waste already created at PWR's. Consuming PWR waste in a LFTR is a better option than burying it in the desert (at least it is to some).
These reactors by definition have a fair amount of very "hot" materials; it hardly matters if none of them are declared "waste" if they'll still kill you in a few minutes of direct exposure.