Rwanda will host a company's 1st small-scale nuclear reactor testing carbon-free energy approach

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Rwanda will host a company’s 1st small-scale nuclear reactor testing carbon-free energy approach

BY IGNATIUS SSUUNA AND CARA ANNA
Updated 12:13 PM EDT, September 13, 2023

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwanda’s atomic energy board says it has signed a deal with a Canadian-German company to build its first small-scale nuclear reactor to test what the company asserts is a new nuclear fission approach in one of the world’s most densely populated countries.

Rwandan officials said Tuesday that the reactor won’t produce any electricity for the country’s grid. Instead, it will explore the technology developed by Dual Fluid Energy Inc. to address the need for low-carbon energy.

If all goes well, officials said, Rwanda and the company could set up a production line of such reactors in the central African nation as the country turns to nuclear power to help meet growing energy needs and adapt to climate change.

-snip-

Small modular reactors in general differ from larger conventional ones by requiring less fuel, offering more flexibility in location and having the ability to be prefabricated and shipped, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. More than 70 commercial reactor designs are being developed worldwide, the IAEA said.

Dual Fluid Energy is pursuing a nuclear fission based on “liquid fuel and lead coolant” that it claims could produce emission-free electricity, hydrogen and synthetic fuels.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/rwanda-nuclear-energy-canada-germany-e056293c2fb801cea18e926635ba1f13

[Think. Again.]

1. I'm very curious...

...and hopeful, about these new Small Modular Reactors (if that is the type of plant this article refers to).

My big questions is: do these smaller reactors create the same, or more, or less of the radioactive waste per energy output than the larger reactors?

[yourout]

2. If they are Uranium powered or cooled with high pressure water then no way..

If they are Thorium powered and either low pressure molten salt cooled or some other non aerosolizable cooling media that cant be carried for miles by the wind then ok.

[NNadir]

9. African nations have an absolute right to nuclear power by any technology.

They need not, and should not, follow the route that China and India did, mimicking the West, for energy access, burning coal.

Every time I hear this paranoid bullshit about radioactivity, I note that in the next six hours, about 4500 people will die from air pollution. I invite any radiation paranoid worried about radiation aerosols from commercial nuclear power plants to compare in the 70 year history of commercial nuclear power, where aerosols from a nuclear reactor - the big bogeymen at Fukushima and Chernobyl included - has killed as many people as will die in the next six hours from air pollution.

Only legitimate scientific references can be accepted as an answer.

A reference for the number of people killed by air pollution (which I attribute of irrational radiation paranoia) follows.

It is here: Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (Lancet Volume 396, Issue 10258, 17–23 October 2020, Pages 1223-1249). This study is a huge undertaking and the list of authors from around the world is rather long. These studies are always open sourced; and I invite people who want to carry on about Fukushima to open it and search the word "radiation." It appears once. Radon, a side product brought to the surface by fracking while we all wait for the grand so called "renewable energy" nirvana that did not come, is not here and won't come, appears however: Household radon, from the decay of natural uranium, which has been cycling through the environment ever since oxygen appeared in the Earth's atmosphere.

Here is what it says about air pollution deaths in the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Survey, if one is too busy to open it oneself because one is too busy carrying on about Fukushima:

The top five risks for attributable deaths for females were high SBP (5·25 million [95% UI 4·49–6·00] deaths, or 20·3% [17·5–22·9] of all female deaths in 2019), dietary risks (3·48 million [2·78–4·37] deaths, or 13·5% [10·8–16·7] of all female deaths in 2019), high FPG (3·09 million [2·40–3·98] deaths, or 11·9% [9·4–15·3] of all female deaths in 2019), air pollution (2·92 million [2·53–3·33] deaths or 11·3% [10·0–12·6] of all female deaths in 2019), and high BMI (2·54 million [1·68–3·56] deaths or 9·8% [6·5–13·7] of all female deaths in 2019). For males, the top five risks differed slightly. In 2019, the leading Level 2 risk factor for attributable deaths globally in males was tobacco (smoked, second-hand, and chewing), which accounted for 6·56 million (95% UI 6·02–7·10) deaths (21·4% [20·5–22·3] of all male deaths in 2019), followed by high SBP, which accounted for 5·60 million (4·90–6·29) deaths (18·2% [16·2–20·1] of all male deaths in 2019). The third largest Level 2 risk factor for attributable deaths among males in 2019 was dietary risks (4·47 million [3·65–5·45] deaths, or 14·6% [12·0–17·6] of all male deaths in 2019) followed by air pollution (ambient particulate matter and ambient ozone pollution, accounting for 3·75 million [3·31–4·24] deaths (12·2% [11·0–13·4] of all male deaths in 2019), and then high FPG (3·14 million [2·70–4·34] deaths, or 11·1% [8·9–14·1] of all male deaths in 2019).

Nuclear energy saves lives, and it follows that antinuke paranoia kills people.

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

3. This needs to happen more quickly...

[hunter]

7. A great alternative to working in the fossil fuel industry...

... referring to this thread:

Starved of new talent: Young people are steering clear of oil jobs

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127168209

[keithbvadu2]

4. Rwanda has an atomic energy board?

[OnlinePoker]

5. Here is a presentation from the company on the process

https://dual-fluid.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/220412-Dual-Fluid-EN.pdf

[yourout]

6. I like what I see....look like it is loosely based on the old Liquid fluoride thorium reactor...

design from the Molten Salt Reactor at Oak Ridge.

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

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. I'm skeptical

According to the AP Article:

Dual Fluid Energy, founded in Canada in 2021, is one of more than 20 small modular reactor projects in development — using various approaches and fuels — that were assessed in a report this year by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency.

One of my first questions was, if this is a Canadian-German company, why are they building test reactor in Rwanda‽ (Could it be that they are looking for a site where they wouldn’t face as much regulatory scrutiny?)


So, I checked the report. NEA (2023), The NEA Small Modular Reactor Dashboard: Volume II, OECD Publishing, Paris

The report is described:

Looking beyond technical feasibility, The NEA Small Modular Reactor Dashboard defines new criteria for assessing real progress in six additional dimensions of readiness: licensing, siting, financing, supply chain, engagement, and fuel. The first volume of The NEA Small Modular Reactor Dashboard assessed the progress of 21 SMRs. This second volume tracks the progress of an additional 21 SMRs around the world.

(OK, I can’t argue, 21 is “more than 20.”)


This reactor is in the 2nd group of 21 (the second tier if you will.) Looking at the assessment itself, of the 6 identified criteria, on a scale of 1 to 6, 3 of the criteria (Financing, Supply Chain & Engagement) were rated 2 out of 6. The remaining 3 criteria (Licensing, Siting & Fuel) were rated 1 out of 6. (In case you’re wondering, this is not typical of the 21 SMR’s in Volume II.)


So, this is a new reactor design from a 2 year old company, with very little progress that the NEA was able to verify…

[NNadir]

10. Oh bullshit.

They're building reactors in Africa because they give a shit about African lives and climate change.

Most civilized countries in the world plan small modular reactors; which have been available since the 1950's. The first US commercial reactor, Shippenport, built in the 1950's was such a reactor.