Westinghouse's small scale nuclear reactors

[Laconian]

https://www.power-eng.com/nuclear/westinghouse-sees-a-tech-disrupter-in-its-evinci-microreactor/

Westinghouse has invested time and effort into eVinci, a heat pipe reactor the company describes as more of a nuclear battery. The company touts the microreactor's solid core and advanced heat pipes, which enable passive cooling and also allow for autonomous operation and load following.

The microreactor can generate 5 MW of electricity or 13 MW of heat from a 15 MW thermal core. Exhaust heat from the power conversion system can be used for district heating applications or low-temperature steam. eVinci could also be used in hydrogen production, maritime or industrial heat applications.

Westinghouse looks to off-grid applications like remote communities and mine sites as the entry market for eVinci. But the microreactor could also serve industrial sites or data centers. In remote locations, it could replace diesel as a power generating fuel, which is expensive to transport often hundreds of miles.

"We see [eVinci] as a tremendous advantage to replace diesel at mining and off-grid industrial locations, where they need that continuous and reliable energy source," said Shaqqo.

[Morris Minor]

Hopefully we'll one day be able to shed our primitive "Nukes = Bad" orthodoxy. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl & Fukushima are the three legs of the belief system.

Was having a conversation about this problem with my son the other day.

[r0tor]

Pretty substantial legs... and wait for Chernobyl part 2, that will complete the table

[Laconian]

Pretty substantial legs... and wait for Chernobyl part 2, that will complete the table

Legs?

[Morris Minor]

It's too bad nuclear power generation technology is frozen in time.

[giant_mtb]

It's too bad nuclear power generation technology is frozen in time.

It's not. People's mindset is frozen in time. If one person falls off a roof and dies while installing solar panels, that person's roof/solar panel will have caused more deaths than Three Mile Island.

[r0tor]

3 Mile Island was on the verge of being a major catastrophe

[giant_mtb]

3 Mile Island was on the verge of being a major catastrophe

But it wasn't.

[r0tor]

So we only learn from actual catastrophes and not massively close calls? 

[giant_mtb]

So we only learn from actual catastrophes and not massively close calls?

Your density rivals that of a black hole.

[Morris Minor]

So we only learn from actual catastrophes and not massively close calls? 

What precisely is it that make you think that the design & best operational practices of a 2022 nuclear power station have to mimic those of 1968?

[r0tor]

What precisely is it that make you think that the design & best operational practices of a 2022 nuclear power station have to mimic those of 1968?

How different do you think they look after a cruise missile strike?

[Laconian]

I live next door to one of the biggest nuclear sub bases in the world. Your fear is my present reality.