Hinkley Point C

neil_g said:
ignoring the icky toxic by-product of nuclear power, sure.
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Most of the "waste atoms" can be used as valuable resources through recycling.
Recycled reactor fuel can extend the availability of Uranium as a fuel by thousands of years.
 
SDK^ said:
Most of the "waste atoms" can be used as valuable resources through recycling.
Recycled reactor fuel can extend the availability of Uranium as a fuel by thousands of years.
Click to expand...

was being tongue in cheek (who uses iky in a serious conversation), but thanks for the info. every day is a school day as they say.
 
Ricochet J said:
Some clarification for the uninitiated:

The French European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) is a very complex design and is facing delays at all places it is being built: Flammenville, Oikulito and elsewhere. This is what EDF want to build at Hinkley Point C, and a sister station at Sizewell C. Both stations will be identical to each other, and identical still to the other EPR stations under construction elsewhere.

The American AP1000 is undergoing the general design assessment (GDA) by the UK government. Originally Horizon Nuclear Power were considering this type of reactor for their sites at Wylfa and Oldbury. But this got canned when Horizon Nuclear Power were bought out by the Japanese firm Hitachi. The new reactors being considered now are the ABWR - Advanced Boiling Water Reactor. It's a simpler design to the EPR, and a big advancement from the standard BWR used across Japan (Fukishima was a type of BWR).

NuGen, are a consortium between Toshiba and ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ). They own a site directly adjacent to Sellafield called Moorside. The reactor type they are considering the the American Westinghouse AP1000. Why the AP1000? Well Toshiba own a 80+ % controlling stake in Wesntingouse so it makes sense to use a in house reactor design. It's a very very passive reactor design, but is also facing delays in other places it is being built. Due to the unique location (next to Sellafield) UK scientists and engineers are actually trying to convince NuGen to use a fast breeder reactor, called a PRISM reactor, designed by GE-Hitachi, to use our very large plutonium reserves as fuel (hint: plutonium is a fantastic fuel for nuclear reactors).

Lastly, in exchange for Chinese input into EDF's plans at Hinkley and Sizewell, a Chinese firm has won rights to the nuclear licensed site at Bradwell, in Essex. They aim to construct their version of the pressurised water reactor (PWR). This is big news for China. Why? So far they haven't been able to export their PWR design out of local markets (China, Pakistan) and into the Western market. If they do so then they are one of six countries that are able to export reactor designs.

Why is all of what I'm saying important? Geopolitics. With emissions targets to reach many governments around the world are keen to build nuclear plants as a solution to high energy demand and low emissions needs. That's great for reactor export countries like USA, France, India, China, Japan, Canada. Where does that put the UK? In a very interesting position. We will essentially have a service based nuclear economy, with our nuclear scientists and engineers providing expertise around the world due to our diverse nuclear mix. The National Nuclear Laboratory (tax payer funded) already put out some amazing work.
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Wow a lot has happened since I left British Energy in 2003 I'm glad they are considering using oldbury again My dad worked in the nuclear sector since CEGB through to Edf many name changes but his role remained the same for nearly 40 years.
 
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Ricochet J said:
Some clarification for the uninitiated:

The French European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) is a very complex design and is facing delays at all places it is being built: Flammenville, Oikulito and elsewhere. This is what EDF want to build at Hinkley Point C, and a sister station at Sizewell C. Both stations will be identical to each other, and identical still to the other EPR stations under construction elsewhere.

The American AP1000 is undergoing the general design assessment (GDA) by the UK government. Originally Horizon Nuclear Power were considering this type of reactor for their sites at Wylfa and Oldbury. But this got canned when Horizon Nuclear Power were bought out by the Japanese firm Hitachi. The new reactors being considered now are the ABWR - Advanced Boiling Water Reactor. It's a simpler design to the EPR, and a big advancement from the standard BWR used across Japan (Fukishima was a type of BWR).

NuGen, are a consortium between Toshiba and ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ). They own a site directly adjacent to Sellafield called Moorside. The reactor type they are considering the the American Westinghouse AP1000. Why the AP1000? Well Toshiba own a 80+ % controlling stake in Wesntingouse so it makes sense to use a in house reactor design. It's a very very passive reactor design, but is also facing delays in other places it is being built. Due to the unique location (next to Sellafield) UK scientists and engineers are actually trying to convince NuGen to use a fast breeder reactor, called a PRISM reactor, designed by GE-Hitachi, to use our very large plutonium reserves as fuel (hint: plutonium is a fantastic fuel for nuclear reactors).

Lastly, in exchange for Chinese input into EDF's plans at Hinkley and Sizewell, a Chinese firm has won rights to the nuclear licensed site at Bradwell, in Essex. They aim to construct their version of the pressurised water reactor (PWR). This is big news for China. Why? So far they haven't been able to export their PWR design out of local markets (China, Pakistan) and into the Western market. If they do so then they are one of six countries that are able to export reactor designs.

Why is all of what I'm saying important? Geopolitics. With emissions targets to reach many governments around the world are keen to build nuclear plants as a solution to high energy demand and low emissions needs. That's great for reactor export countries like USA, France, India, China, Japan, Canada. Where does that put the UK? In a very interesting position. We will essentially have a service based nuclear economy, with our nuclear scientists and engineers providing expertise around the world due to our diverse nuclear mix. The National Nuclear Laboratory (tax payer funded) already put out some amazing work.
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Tell us more! Interesting stuff this nuclear lark.
 
I support the construction of a new generation of nuclear power - I cannot see that we're going to meet carbon targets without it - but this seems like the wrong option in so many ways and especially coming alongside the government slashing the funding for renewable power whilst throwing bungs to the Fracking industry.

It's the wrong power station design, built using government backing for foreign profit.
 
Flack88 said:
Bit of backhand nuclear material trading for the old A-bomb ;)
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I was thinking more on the lines of:

"So how much power does it take to run these cooling pumps"

"Oh standard 1 Jin of power is required."

"Sorry one Jin?!?... I've never herd of this unit of power before."

"Oh is very common in China, in fact here he comes now."

:p
 
cheesyboy said:
Have a read of the Windscale reactor fire. It's (genuinely) super-interesting. And scary as ****.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windscale_fire

Trying to bash out reactor core cartridges with scaffold poles :eek:
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when i worked for british energy we had a massive safety video about that.

And the difference between level 5 event and a level 7 is crazy.


looking at the release from chernobyly compared to windscale it's not even 1% of the damage/ radiation risk
 
I thought the UK government was subsidising this project to the tune of £18bn anyways + another £2bn on top announced just yesterday?

Or is the 18bn already pledged in a UK/French venture now off the table?
 
I don't even know why there's any doubt about building the PRISM reactor, it would make us energy independent for the next 100-500 years depending on your source.
 
I know little about the news but one queation I do have is who pays for the clean up after the plants are decommissioned?
 
The Chinese are not our friends, we better hope they don't evolve too far out of their isolationist attitude.

Why the UK doesn't have a nuclear reactor sector is beyond me... Bloody hippies.
 
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