What is a molten salt reactor?
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What is a molten salt reactor?
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Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#2The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required along with an increase in the distribution network (EV's). Where it comes from, and how the "wires" are made are critical areas of research. Unless some novel research succeeds, distasteful decisions are going to be made to keep things going.
Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#3The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required along with an increase in the distribution network (EV's). Where it comes from, and how the "wires" are made are critical areas of research. Unless some novel research succeeds, distasteful decisions are going to be made to keep things going.
> The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required
What do you mean by "modern society"? According to the IEA, "energy demand per capita is likely to remain at current levels for the next 25 years. In other [words], peak per capita energy consumption may have already arrived".[0]
Most "modern societies" have less than replacement fertility levels, so energy use is only increasing because the population is living longer, and because of immigration. To give some aggregate numbers for a set of modern societies: "The EU-27’s population is projected to increase from 446.8 million in 2019 and peak to 449.3 million in 2026 (+0.6 %), then gradually decrease to 441.2 million in 2050".[1]
[0] https://www.businessinsider.com/bernstein-says-peak-energy-p...
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...
Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#4The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required along with an increase in the distribution network (EV's). Where it comes from, and how the "wires" are made are critical areas of research. Unless some novel research succeeds, distasteful decisions are going to be made to keep things going.
> The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required What do you mean by "modern society"? According to the IEA, "energy demand per capita is likely to remain at current levels for the next 25 years. In other [words], peak per capita energy consumption may have already arrived".[0] Most "modern societies" have less than replacement fertility levels, so energy use is only increasing because the po…
When was this study done, as crypto and ev’s are going to throw a whole lot of strain on the power grid (taken from the gas distribution plumbing). In the kcal aggregate, they might be equivalent, but a whole lot of tanks and pipes have to become wires.
Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#5A molten salt reactor is, first and foremost, a distraction.
By the time any production molten-salt reactor design could get proved out and the first commercial one built, renewables + storage will be providing all our power for much less money than it ever could.
But we can waste a lot of $billions on it that could instead go to build out a hell of a lot of panels and wind turbines.
Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#6The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required along with an increase in the distribution network (EV's). Where it comes from, and how the "wires" are made are critical areas of research. Unless some novel research succeeds, distasteful decisions are going to be made to keep things going.
Electric power demand will increase by what it takes to keep our cars charged up, and to drive industrial production of hydrogen for steel and other industrial processes, ammonia for fertilizer, synthetic fuels (including ammonia and hydrogen) for bigger vehicles, carbon capture from the atmosphere, water desalination, and myriad other uses.
Build-out of renewables will increasingly displace fossil-fuel generation, then (as that is exceeded) bank energy in storage systems (batteries and pumped hydro, short-term, other tech for longer term). We will need a lot of new transmission lines to trade power between current users, current generators, and storage.
None of it requires new physics, although improvements in catalysts will improve round-trip efficiency and cost of storage systems and synthesis, and new chemistries will improve cost and efficiency of new photovoltaic build-out.
There is no place for nukes in that world. They cost way too much to compete on a fair playing field.
Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#7The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required along with an increase in the distribution network (EV's). Where it comes from, and how the "wires" are made are critical areas of research. Unless some novel research succeeds, distasteful decisions are going to be made to keep things going.
> The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required What do you mean by "modern society"? According to the IEA, "energy demand per capita is likely to remain at current levels for the next 25 years. In other [words], peak per capita energy consumption may have already arrived".[0] Most "modern societies" have less than replacement fertility levels, so energy use is only increasing because the po…
Energy per capita, yes. But electricity per capital not necessarily. Things like smelting, shipping, and air travel, all of which depends on fossil fuel must be electrified.
Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#8The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required along with an increase in the distribution network (EV's). Where it comes from, and how the "wires" are made are critical areas of research. Unless some novel research succeeds, distasteful decisions are going to be made to keep things going.
> The way modern society is going, a LOT of power is going to be required What do you mean by "modern society"? According to the IEA, "energy demand per capita is likely to remain at current levels for the next 25 years. In other [words], peak per capita energy consumption may have already arrived".[0] Most "modern societies" have less than replacement fertility levels, so energy use is only increasing because the po…
Demand is a function of cost. There is a lot of things that having energy would permit that right now aren't possible like desalination, giant lasers to launch things to space etc.
Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#9A molten salt reactor is, first and foremost, a distraction . By the time any production molten-salt reactor design could get proved out and the first commercial one built, renewables + storage will be providing all our power for much less money than it ever could. But we can waste a lot of $billions on it that could instead go to build out a hell of a lot of panels and wind turbines.
Or water cooled reactors!
Re: What is a molten salt reactor?
#10See also my thorium myths page https://whatisnuclear.com/thorium-myths.html