IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 57
The ForgoTTen hisTory oF small nuclear reacTors
Dea l i ng w it h t he i r rad iated
uranium- thorium fuel proved difficult too. Eventually,
the spent fuel was shipped to a reprocessing plant in
southern Italy.
In 1968, the same year Elk River shut down, the last of the
AEC's small reactors was connected to the grid: the 50-MW
La Crosse boiling water reactor. That plant operated for
18 years; by the end, its electricity cost three times as much
as that from the coal plant next door, according to a 2012
news account about the disposal of the plant's spent fuel. In
the article, a former plant manager was quoted as saying that
the La Crosse plant "had a great design. The only problem
was it was too small."
Since then, not a single small reactor has been commissioned in the United States. Indeed, reactor size in the United
States ballooned, reaching the 800- to 1,300-MW level by
the mid-1970s.
The one exception to this growth trend was an experimental
330-MW high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, the Fort St. Vrain
plant in Platteville, Colo. It came on line in 1976, with a design
promoted as being ultrasafe. But the reactor was a failure. A
New York Times article about the 1988 decision to shut it down
captured the gist of the problem: "Safest Reactor Is Closing
Because It Rarely Runs." Data from the International Atomic
Energy Agency showed that the plant produced about 15 percent of the electricity it would have if it had run at full capacity.
NucLear reguLatory coMMissioN
co nti n u e d f ro m pag e 4 8 |
F o rt S t. v r a i n * P l at t ev i l l e, C ol o.
The 330-MegawaTT forT ST. vraiN NUclear geNeraTiNg STaTioN had a high-TeMPeraTUre
gaS-cooled reacTor deSigN deeMed To be "UlTraSafe." however, iT rarely oPeraTed aT fUll
caPaciTy aNd waS ShUT dowN iN 1989.
Small reactors were constructed in many other countries
too, but all of them served as stepping-stones to larger reactors. The country with the most recent experience with
small reactors is India, which until recently was still constructing 220-MW heavy-water reactors. These fit many of
the characteristics of today's SMRs as envisioned by proponents: modest size and a relatively standardized design
that was manufactured and operated by a single utility and
its partners. Nevertheless, the Indian atomic energy estab-
ADHESIVES for the TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY
Advanced adhesive systems help engineers achieve:
Weight reduction ∙ Fuel efficiency ∙ Corrosion protection ∙ Lower assembly costs
Time travel
with Max
154 Hobart Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601, USA * +1.201.343.8983 * main@masterbond.com
www.masterbond.com
SPectrUm.ieee.orG
|
north american
|
may 2015
|
57
http://www.masterbond.com
http://SPectrUm.ieee.orG
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum May, 2015
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 1
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 2
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 3
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 4
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 5
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 6
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 7
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 8
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 9
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IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 11
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 12
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 13
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IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 15
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 16
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 17
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 18
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 19
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 20
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 21
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 22
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 23
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 24
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 25
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 26
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 27
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 28
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 29
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 30
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 31
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 32
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 33
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 34
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 35
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 36
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 37
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 38
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 39
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 40
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 41
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 42
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 43
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 44
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 45
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 46
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 47
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 48
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 49
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 50
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 51
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 52
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 53
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 54
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 55
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 56
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 57
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 58
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 59
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 60
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 61
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 62
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 63
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 64
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - Cover4
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