World Water Day: 60 Posts on Water & Cleantech | CleanTechnica
a ton of useful info on water and sewage cleaning
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Excellent charts about deployment and costs of Renewable Energy | ZacharyShahan.com
About Renewable Energy | ZacharyShahan.com
I’ve shared the following two graphics a few times in the past couple years. They make a rather important point that doesn’t seem to get enough attention: solar power projects go up relatively fast, while nuclear and coal power plants require many more years to get designed, planned, permitted, and built. With nuclear and coal costs rising while solar costs are quickly falling, by the time a new nuclear or coal power plant would be built, its electricity would already be more expensive than electricity from solar (or wind, for that matter):
In fact, one report from 2010 found that the solar–nuclear crossover occurred a few years ago.
Now, an assumption in all of these projections mentioned above is
that solar prices will consistently drop at a good rate. And that’s
exactly what’s been happening. As I just shared a couple weeks ago, here
are a few nice graphs of solar PV price drops in Germany:
Lest you think it’s only Germany seeing such price drops, below are similar graphs from the US.
This first one shows that the installed price of residential and commercial solar dropped from an average of about $12/W in 1998 to about $6/W in 2011 (~50%).
Similarly, this next one shows the drop in the price of solar modules from 1985 to 2011 (from over $6.5/Wp to about $1/Wp):
I’ve shared the following two graphics a few times in the past couple years. They make a rather important point that doesn’t seem to get enough attention: solar power projects go up relatively fast, while nuclear and coal power plants require many more years to get designed, planned, permitted, and built. With nuclear and coal costs rising while solar costs are quickly falling, by the time a new nuclear or coal power plant would be built, its electricity would already be more expensive than electricity from solar (or wind, for that matter):
Solar
is cheaper than coal, practically speaking. (To enlarge, hold down
‘ctrl’ or ‘command’ and click the ‘+’ key, or click on the image and
then click on the link to the image on the next page — that’s the link
that indicates the size of the image.)
Solar
is cheaper than nuclear power, practically speaking. (To enlarge, hold
down ‘ctrl’ or ‘command’ and click the ‘+’ key, or click on the image
and then click on the link to the image on the next page — that’s the
link that indicates the size of the image.)
Solar and Nuclear Costs: The Historic Crossover
October 2012
This first one shows that the installed price of residential and commercial solar dropped from an average of about $12/W in 1998 to about $6/W in 2011 (~50%).
Similarly, this next one shows the drop in the price of solar modules from 1985 to 2011 (from over $6.5/Wp to about $1/Wp):Friday, February 21, 2014
Keystone and GHG, Obama steps back, climate-change promises aired at Amigos summit - Politics - CBC News
No deals but immigration, climate-change promises aired at Amigos summit - Politics - CBC News:
But as he continued, Obama changed course and repeated his insistence that the pipeline's impact on GHG emissions would be a key factor in his eventual decision to approve Keystone or not.
The science is irrefutable," Obama said. "We're already seeing severe weather patterns increase, and that has consequences for our businesses, for our jobs, for our families, for safety and security."
In reply, Harper suggested that the U.S. State Department's review was "pretty definitive" that Keystone would not add to GHG emissions — though some would argue that's a generous interpretation of a finding that said oil sands development would proceed with or without the pipeline.
And Harper pointedly referenced his government's decision to streamline environmental reviews, to give investors "certainty."
As well, Harper didn't budge either on the biggest irritant in Canada-Mexico relations. The visas imposed on Mexican travellers in 2009, he said, will remain.
Canadian officials, speaking on background, said that, since 2009, the number of bogus refugee claims from Mexican visitors dropped by 85 per cent, saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
Perhaps because he was host, Mexico's Peña Nieto was more gracious in his response, praising Harper for being willing to continue working on ways to end the restriction.
So, tensions clearly remain among the Three Amigos.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Design of world's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready : North, News - India Today
Design of world's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready : North, News - India Today:
Finally, the wait is over. The design of World's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready.
India Today Online brings you the first look of design and prototype of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, also termed as AHWR.
It is the latest Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor that will burn thorium as its fuel ore.
The design is being developed at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in Mumbai, India and aims to meet the objectives of using thorium fuel cycles for commercial power generation.
The AHWR is a vertical pressure tube type reactor cooled by boiling light water under natural circulation. The unique feature of this design is a large tank of water on top of the primary containment of vessel, called the gravity-driven water pool (GDWP). This reservoir is designed to perform several passive safety functions.
Dr R K Sinha, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, in an exclusive interview to India Today Online said, "This reactor could function without an operator for 120 days."
The AHWR is a unit that will be fueled by a mix of uranium-233 and plutonium - which will be converted from thorium by previously deployed and domestically designed fast breeder reactors.
Thorium is an element that is three times more abundant globally than uranium. As all mined thorium is potentially usable to breed reactor fuel. India's abundant reserves of thorium, constitute 25 per cent of the world's total reserves.
Earlier, India produced the world's first thorium nuclear reactor, the Kakrapar-1, in 1993, and as part of India's three-stage fuel cycle plan, a new Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is being designed, slated for operation in 2016. The country hopes to use thorium-based reactors to meet 30 per cent of its electricity demands by 2050.
The AHWR is slated to form the third stage in India's three-stag fuel-cycle plan. It is supposed to be built starting with a 300 MW prototype in 2016. Later, the first megawatt of electricity would be be generated by 2025. "To generate a single megawatt of electricity from this world's first thorium based reactor it would take at least 7-8 years," said Dr Sinha.
Dr Sinha said, "This will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, mostly imported, and will be a major contribution to global efforts to combat climate change."
It is also said to be the most secured and safest reactor, which in future, could be set up in populated cities, like - Mumbai or Delhi, "within the city".
The latest AHWR design incorporates several passive safety features. These include: Core heat removal through natural circulation; direct injection of emergency core coolant system (ECCS) water in fuel; and the availability of a large inventory of borated water in overhead gravity-driven water pool (GDWP) to facilitate sustenance of core decay heat removal. The emergency core cooling system (ECCS) injection and containment cooling can act (SCRAM) without invoking any active systems or operator action.
The reactor also incorporates advanced technologies, together with several proven positive features of Indian pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). These features include pressure tube type design, low pressure moderator, on-power refueling, diverse fast acting shut-down systems, and availability of a large low temperature heat sink around the reactor core.
The construction on the first AHWR is scheduled to start in 2016 - though no site has yet been announced. Sources says, "nothing has decided, it could be Tarapur in Mumbai or some other location in India".
Finally, the wait is over. The design of World's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready.
India Today Online brings you the first look of design and prototype of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, also termed as AHWR.
It is the latest Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor that will burn thorium as its fuel ore.
The design is being developed at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in Mumbai, India and aims to meet the objectives of using thorium fuel cycles for commercial power generation.
The AHWR is a vertical pressure tube type reactor cooled by boiling light water under natural circulation. The unique feature of this design is a large tank of water on top of the primary containment of vessel, called the gravity-driven water pool (GDWP). This reservoir is designed to perform several passive safety functions.
Dr R K Sinha, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, in an exclusive interview to India Today Online said, "This reactor could function without an operator for 120 days."
Thorium is an element that is three times more abundant globally than uranium. As all mined thorium is potentially usable to breed reactor fuel. India's abundant reserves of thorium, constitute 25 per cent of the world's total reserves.
Earlier, India produced the world's first thorium nuclear reactor, the Kakrapar-1, in 1993, and as part of India's three-stage fuel cycle plan, a new Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is being designed, slated for operation in 2016. The country hopes to use thorium-based reactors to meet 30 per cent of its electricity demands by 2050.
The AHWR is slated to form the third stage in India's three-stag fuel-cycle plan. It is supposed to be built starting with a 300 MW prototype in 2016. Later, the first megawatt of electricity would be be generated by 2025. "To generate a single megawatt of electricity from this world's first thorium based reactor it would take at least 7-8 years," said Dr Sinha.
Dr Sinha said, "This will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, mostly imported, and will be a major contribution to global efforts to combat climate change."
It is also said to be the most secured and safest reactor, which in future, could be set up in populated cities, like - Mumbai or Delhi, "within the city".
The latest AHWR design incorporates several passive safety features. These include: Core heat removal through natural circulation; direct injection of emergency core coolant system (ECCS) water in fuel; and the availability of a large inventory of borated water in overhead gravity-driven water pool (GDWP) to facilitate sustenance of core decay heat removal. The emergency core cooling system (ECCS) injection and containment cooling can act (SCRAM) without invoking any active systems or operator action.
The reactor also incorporates advanced technologies, together with several proven positive features of Indian pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). These features include pressure tube type design, low pressure moderator, on-power refueling, diverse fast acting shut-down systems, and availability of a large low temperature heat sink around the reactor core.
The construction on the first AHWR is scheduled to start in 2016 - though no site has yet been announced. Sources says, "nothing has decided, it could be Tarapur in Mumbai or some other location in India".
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Thorium: An Alternative for Nuclear Energy? | Uranium Investing News
Thorium: An Alternative for Nuclear Energy? | Uranium Investing News
How thorium energy works
Unlike uranium, thorium can’t split to make a nuclear chain reaction — in scientific terms, it isn’t fissile. However, if it is bombarded by neutrons from a fuel that is fissile, like uranium-235 or plutonium-239, it’s converted to uranium-233, itself an excellent nuclear fuel. After the process begins, it’s self-sustaining — fission of uranium-233 turns more thorium nearby into the same nuclear fuel. There are complexities beyond the scope of this article, including the mechanics of molten-salt versus pressurized-water reactors in burning thorium, but the reaction described above is the main appeal of thorium, and its principal promise.
Thorium vs. uranium
Thorium is an appealing alternative to uranium to many countries. It is both more cheap and more abundant than uranium, whose price is expected to rise yet more as backlash from the Fukushima disaster dies down, according to Energy and Capital. There are other benefits of thorium as well. During a thorium-powered nuclear reaction, most of the thorium itself is consumed, which leads to less waste, most of which is rendered non-hazardous in 30 years. The most dangerous nuclear waste material currently in use must be stored for 10,000 years, by way of contrast. Furthermore, 1 metric ton of thorium is equal to 250 metric tons in terms of efficiency in a water reactor.
Extraction of thorium would be less expensive per unit of energy than extraction of uranium as well, because it is present in higher concentrations by weight than the other metal, according to Dauvergne. The source also mentions another peculiar trait of thorium: it is nearly impossible to weaponize, as it contains no fissile isotope. This in itself has slowed uranium research, according to a 1997 international scientific symposium on nuclear fuel cycles.
The dangers of uranium – widely publicized in the wake of the Fukushima disaster – often lead analysts and others to consider thorium more seriously. As thorium is not fissile on its own, reactions could be stopped in case of emergency, according to Forbes. The publication suggests thorium could allow countries like Iran and North Korea to benefit from nuclear power without causing concern that they are secretly developing nuclear weapons, as well.
Thorium can also be used together with conventional uranium-based nuclear power generation, meaning a thriving thorium industry would not necessarily make uranium obsolete.
Where thorium is found
Thorium is present in small quantities in soils and rocks everywhere, and it’s estimated to be about four times more plentiful than uranium. Large reserves, rather than the trace amounts of the metal in the average backyard, exist in China, Australia, the US, Turkey, India and Norway, according to Reuters.
How thorium energy works
Unlike uranium, thorium can’t split to make a nuclear chain reaction — in scientific terms, it isn’t fissile. However, if it is bombarded by neutrons from a fuel that is fissile, like uranium-235 or plutonium-239, it’s converted to uranium-233, itself an excellent nuclear fuel. After the process begins, it’s self-sustaining — fission of uranium-233 turns more thorium nearby into the same nuclear fuel. There are complexities beyond the scope of this article, including the mechanics of molten-salt versus pressurized-water reactors in burning thorium, but the reaction described above is the main appeal of thorium, and its principal promise.
Thorium vs. uranium
Thorium is an appealing alternative to uranium to many countries. It is both more cheap and more abundant than uranium, whose price is expected to rise yet more as backlash from the Fukushima disaster dies down, according to Energy and Capital. There are other benefits of thorium as well. During a thorium-powered nuclear reaction, most of the thorium itself is consumed, which leads to less waste, most of which is rendered non-hazardous in 30 years. The most dangerous nuclear waste material currently in use must be stored for 10,000 years, by way of contrast. Furthermore, 1 metric ton of thorium is equal to 250 metric tons in terms of efficiency in a water reactor.
Extraction of thorium would be less expensive per unit of energy than extraction of uranium as well, because it is present in higher concentrations by weight than the other metal, according to Dauvergne. The source also mentions another peculiar trait of thorium: it is nearly impossible to weaponize, as it contains no fissile isotope. This in itself has slowed uranium research, according to a 1997 international scientific symposium on nuclear fuel cycles.
The dangers of uranium – widely publicized in the wake of the Fukushima disaster – often lead analysts and others to consider thorium more seriously. As thorium is not fissile on its own, reactions could be stopped in case of emergency, according to Forbes. The publication suggests thorium could allow countries like Iran and North Korea to benefit from nuclear power without causing concern that they are secretly developing nuclear weapons, as well.
Thorium can also be used together with conventional uranium-based nuclear power generation, meaning a thriving thorium industry would not necessarily make uranium obsolete.
Where thorium is found
Thorium is present in small quantities in soils and rocks everywhere, and it’s estimated to be about four times more plentiful than uranium. Large reserves, rather than the trace amounts of the metal in the average backyard, exist in China, Australia, the US, Turkey, India and Norway, according to Reuters.
Experimental Breeder Reactor II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Experimental Breeder Reactor II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is a sodium cooled reactor with a thermal power rating of 62.5 megawatts (MW), an intermediate closed loop of secondary sodium, and a steam plant that produces 19 MW of electrical power through a conventional turbine generator. The original emphasis in the design and operation of EBR-II was to demonstrate a complete breeder-reactor power plant with on-site reprocessing of metallic fuel. The demonstration was successfully carried out from 1964 to 1969. The emphasis was then shifted to testing fuels and materials for future, larger, liquid metal reactors in the radiation environment of the EBR-II reactor core. It operated as the Integral Fast Reactor prototype. Costing more than US$32 million, it achieved first criticality in 1965 and ran for 30 years. It was designed to produce about 62.5 megawatts of heat and 20 megawatts of electricity, which was achieved in September 1969 and continued for most of its lifetime. Over its lifetime it has generated over two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, providing a majority of the electricity and also heat to the facilities of the Argonne National Laboratory-West.
Curiously it does not mention that thorium was its fuel, this thing also eats nuclear waste stockpiles and leaves a whole lot less spent fuel, of lower halflife!
Not to be confused with Experimental Breeder Reactor I.
Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) is a reactor designed, built and operated by Argonne National Laboratory in Idaho.[1] It was shut down in 1994. Custody of the reactor was transferred to Idaho National Laboratory after its founding in 2005.It is a sodium cooled reactor with a thermal power rating of 62.5 megawatts (MW), an intermediate closed loop of secondary sodium, and a steam plant that produces 19 MW of electrical power through a conventional turbine generator. The original emphasis in the design and operation of EBR-II was to demonstrate a complete breeder-reactor power plant with on-site reprocessing of metallic fuel. The demonstration was successfully carried out from 1964 to 1969. The emphasis was then shifted to testing fuels and materials for future, larger, liquid metal reactors in the radiation environment of the EBR-II reactor core. It operated as the Integral Fast Reactor prototype. Costing more than US$32 million, it achieved first criticality in 1965 and ran for 30 years. It was designed to produce about 62.5 megawatts of heat and 20 megawatts of electricity, which was achieved in September 1969 and continued for most of its lifetime. Over its lifetime it has generated over two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, providing a majority of the electricity and also heat to the facilities of the Argonne National Laboratory-West.
Curiously it does not mention that thorium was its fuel, this thing also eats nuclear waste stockpiles and leaves a whole lot less spent fuel, of lower halflife!
Contents
David Suzuki: Will thorium save us from climate change? | Georgia Straight, Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly
David Suzuki: Will thorium save us from climate change? | Georgia Straight, Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly
One idea is to use thorium instead of uranium for reactor fuel. Thorium is more abundant than uranium. Unlike uranium, it’s not fissile; that is, it can’t be split to create a nuclear chain reaction, so it must be bred through nuclear reactors to produce fissile uranium.
Thorium-fuelled reactors produce less waste, and while some trace elements in spent uranium fuels remain radioactive for many thousands of years, levels in spent thorium fuels drop off much faster. China and Canada are working on a modified Canadian design that includes thorium along with recycled uranium fuel. With the right type of reactor, such as this design or the integral fast reactor, meltdown risks are reduced or eliminated.
Thorium can be employed in a variety of reactor types, some of which currently use uranium—including heavy water reactors like Canada’s CANDU. But some experts say new technologies, such as molten salt reactors, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors, are much safer and more efficient than today’s conventional reactors.
So why aren’t we using them?
One idea is to use thorium instead of uranium for reactor fuel. Thorium is more abundant than uranium. Unlike uranium, it’s not fissile; that is, it can’t be split to create a nuclear chain reaction, so it must be bred through nuclear reactors to produce fissile uranium.
Thorium-fuelled reactors produce less waste, and while some trace elements in spent uranium fuels remain radioactive for many thousands of years, levels in spent thorium fuels drop off much faster. China and Canada are working on a modified Canadian design that includes thorium along with recycled uranium fuel. With the right type of reactor, such as this design or the integral fast reactor, meltdown risks are reduced or eliminated.
Thorium can be employed in a variety of reactor types, some of which currently use uranium—including heavy water reactors like Canada’s CANDU. But some experts say new technologies, such as molten salt reactors, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors, are much safer and more efficient than today’s conventional reactors.
So why aren’t we using them?
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