Eskom's plan to build small nuclear reactors

More of this. Setup gas-fired power stations in the Karoo as well, fracking it as opposed to paving it with solar panels.

The West is pumping billions of their, printed, green-energy-nonsense money into this country in order to get their hands on South Africa's coal, whilst we end up sitting with fsckall baseload electricity.
 
Wowser. So much weird takes.

SMR: An unproven technology not deployed commercially at any scale anywhere in the world successfully. Lots of hype, lots of talk. Lots of cancelled projects, broken time lines, budget overruns.

Not sure why we should take the technical and financial risk on these things. Maybe wait until there are some maturity (if ever) in the market.

Military Reactors: they run on highly enriched uranium and have proliferation concerns. Yes they are expensive as well. But not civilian technology for a reason. This is bomb grade material in many cases.

Military reactors are definitely not the same as SMRs because SMRs are designed with proliferation concerns in mind.

Anyway - we don't have the capital for large nuclear reactors, we don't have the money for the financial and technical risk for SMRs. We don't have the time for either. That is why renewables and batteries wins. QED.
 
I thought the nuclear concept at power stations are based on the reactors used for submarines? Both require plenty of water for cooling and they use the same type of fuel.

The new generation SMRs uses passive cooling techniques to prevent a reactor meltdown.
 
PowerFactor said:
I thought the nuclear concept at power stations are based on the reactors used for submarines? Both require plenty of water for cooling and they use the same type of fuel.

The new generation SMRs uses passive cooling techniques to prevent a reactor meltdown.
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Nope. Doesn't use same fuel. Civilian nuclear reactors use uranium only refined to 3 to 5%. Submarine reactors can be as high as 93%.

Principles the same though. Nuclear hot. Nuclear heat something. The something heats something else. Which drives a turbine.
 
Whatever else... If the strategic enrichment of Uranium is ANY part of their thought processes, then they should forget right about it. That's heat SA doesn't need. Forget need. We should be deathly afraid of even thinking about it. If there's any of that, then it can only be cold war hang-ups still rattling around in their ageing cadre skulls, and they should ****ing retire for the good of all of us.
 
Johand said:
Nope. Doesn't use same fuel. Civilian nuclear reactors use uranium only refined to 3 to 5%. Submarine reactors can be as high as 93%.

Principles the same though. Nuclear hot. Nuclear heat something. The something heats something else. Which drives a turbine.
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Did not know the enrichment is that high for a sub
 
The Trutherizer said:
Whatever else... If the strategic enrichment of Uranium is ANY part of their thought processes, then they should forget right about it. That's heat SA doesn't need. Forget need. We should be deathly afraid of even thinking about it. If there's any of that, then it can only be cold war hang-ups still rattling around in their ageing cadre skulls, and they should ****ing retire for the good of all of us.
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Bro, be quiet, Iran pays good, comrades can eat good for years, papa.
 
LCBXX said:
More of this. Setup gas-fired power stations in the Karoo as well, fracking it as opposed to paving it with solar panels.

The West is pumping billions of their, printed, green-energy-nonsense money into this country in order to get their hands on South Africa's coal, whilst we end up sitting with fsckall baseload electricity.
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There is not enough water to frack in the karoo.
 
If this ever goes through, the Americans would be ones providing us with the units, it's apart of the "Unjust Transition" loan agreements
 
Calkem said:
If this ever goes through, the Americans would be ones providing us with the units, it's apart of the "Unjust Transition" loan agreements
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haha, you reckon so? This will purely be a BRICS deal, enriching uranium or not, it's none of the West's business.

Let's level, the people in charge of SA apparently took R200m from Iran, for stuff, part of that stuff won't just be their lawsuit against Israel, we not Kansas anymore down here, geopolitically everything North of the WC is bad guy country.
 
wingnut771 said:
We can't make weapons grade here. Not anymore afaik.
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Well, it seems there's an opportunity to build some plants that CAN, lmao. Apparently Iran is committed to nuclear weapons, but they're compromised in terms of security etc from the evil West, perhaps this might be a better place for the partners, it's pretty wild west down here.
 
BlackStatic said:
Well, it seems there's an opportunity to build some plants that CAN, lmao. Apparently Iran is committed to nuclear weapons, but they're compromised in terms of security etc, perhaps this might be a better place for the partners, it's pretty wild west down here.
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We gave all that up when we dismantled our nukes before handing power over to the ANC.
 
wingnut771 said:
We gave all that up when we dismantled our nukes before handing power over to the ANC.
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Yes dummy but read the article we gonna build new plants.

Comrades will just ignore sanctions, the voter twats will kak, not them, it's not their problem when they get cash directly for dirty deeds, or good deeds, depending how your brain is wired.
 
BlackStatic said:
Yes dummy but read the article we gonna build new plants.

Comrades will just ignore sanctions, the voter twats will kak, not them, it's not their problem when they get cash directly for dirty deeds, or good deeds, depending how your brain is wired.
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That doesn't need weapons grade and water for cooling. We make that fuel now.
 
Jet-Fighter7700 said:
I dont know what worries me more, Iran building Nuclear facilities in SA, or the ANC having access to nuclear plants made by the Russians with Chinese parts.
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BRICStastic!

Want to have a laugh? Read this.

bellona.org

US struggles to free itself from Russian enriched uranium supplies - Bellona.org

As the past year drew to a close, the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would ban the purchase of enriched Russian uranium for use in American nuclear reactors — a measure meant to hobble Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which is actively participating in Moscow’s...
bellona.org bellona.org
 
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