The most recent commercial demonstration reactors belong. To begin with, it relied upon water from the columbia river for cooling proximity to the river being a main reason the hanford site had originally been selected for plutonium production. Current issue copyright 2015 china engineering science press. Dick shelved 2 times as newwavesciencefiction avg rating 3. Terrapowers traveling wave reactor twr extends the safety and efficiency of nuclear energy while making it more affordable. Travelingwave reactors twrs are advanced nuclear reactors that are capable of eventually running forever given only depleted uranium fuel. Traveling wave reactor twr which is a nearterm deployable and truly. The initial twr design proposed was that of a reactor in which the chain reaction front. Nuclear experts head to china to test experimental reactors. A teacher creates an experimental movement in his class to help students understand how people could have followed hitler. The concept works on the basis that breedburn waves and the fuel move relative to one another.
Their traveling wave reactor design uses depleted uranium to operate, rather than uranium235 like in current reactors, and is built so that if left unattended, it will slowly shut down, making a. It is a sodiumcooled fast reactor design in which neutrons are not slowed down and the heat created by fission is carried away by liquid sodium, which is used to boil water. Sodiumcooled fast reactors have a checkered history. Molten salt and traveling wave nuclear reactors asia times. This novel dramatizes an incident that took place in a california school in 1969. This desire for seriousness is not snobbery, as sometimes suggested by folks who overemphasize the entertainment function of speculative fiction. I couldnt help comparing the wave to pulitzerprizewinning author, john mcphees fascinating nonfiction books on topics ranging from atom bombs to oranges. One of their projects is a traveling wave reactor design that can generate emissionfree electricity for decades on a single cylinder of fuel.
The wave is set at gordon high school over a period of nine days. Twrs differ from other kinds of fastneutron and breeder reactors in their ability to use fuel efficiently without uranium enrichment or reprocessing, instead directly using depleted uranium. Both teller and lowell wood played key roles in the strategic defense initiative. Both authors are deeply knowledgeable about their subject matter, and both perform amazing riffs on a wide range of topicsin caseys case, everything to do with oceanic waves, ranging. This book focuses on core design and methods for design and analysis. The wave doesnt actually move at all, but this is the easiest way. Fedorov, short reference book for engineerphysicist. On the basis of the condition for nuclear burning wave existence in the neutronmultiplying media upu and thu cycles we show the possibility of surmounting the socalled dpaparameter problem and suggest an algorithm of the optimal nuclear burning wave mode adjustment, which is supposed to yield the wave parameters fluenceneutron flux, width and speed of nuclear burning wave that. Once started, a steadystate wave of power propagates through the reactor. In 2006, terrapower launched an effort to develop the first practical engineering embodiment of a breedand burn fast reactor, producing a design concept known as a travelingwave reactor twr. Life and memories after the tsunami is a memoir by sonali deraniyagala based on the 2004 indian ocean earthquake and tsunami. Ben ross shows his students a documentary on the holocaust. In its design, the n reactor shared many features with the eight older reactors on the hanford site. A travelingwave reactor twr is a proposed type of nuclear fission reactor that can convert.
It is based on advances made in nuclear power utilization and computational methods over the past 40 years, covering core design of boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors, as well as. This animation shows how our traveling wave reactor design works. A travelingwave reactor twr is a proposed type of nuclear fission reactor that can convert fertile material into usable fuel through nuclear transmutation, in tandem with the burnup of fissile material. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Bill gates and china partner on worldfirst nuclear technology. On some fundamental peculiarities of the traveling wave. To create the traveling wave reactor twr design, terrapower has put together a team. The new wave of the 1960s and 1970s arguably embodied science fictions claim to literary seriousness. Bill gates comes to washington selling the promise of. His fission company, terrapower, alters its traveling wave reactor, explores thorium, liquid fuel and alternative designs.
The mechanism can be used for constructing a reactor for long operation duration with high fuel utilization, which. Wave books is an independent poetry press based in seattle, washington, dedicated to publishing the best in contemporary poetry, poetry in translation. Bill gates stops chasing nuclear wave, pursues variety of reactors. About us wave books is an independent poetry press based in seattle, washington, dedicated to publishing exceptional contemporary poetry, poetry in translation, and writing by poets. As a function of time, the latest design represents a standing wave or a soliton, rather than a traveling wave. The accident took hours or days because it took time to boil off the coolant sitting in the reactor and going to a smaller design may help since you would expect heat generation to scale with volume while heat transfer to scale with surface area but. As it runs, the core in a travelingwave reactor gradually converts nonfissile material into the fuel it needs. The traveling wave reactor twr is a proposed reactor design that belongs to a set known as generation iv designs that are different in a number of respects than the current commercial designs which use water to cool the reactor and slow down moderate the neutrons that sustain the chain reaction. The traveling wave reactor, first conceived in 1958, has been intensively investigated only since about 2006.
Inside the lab where terrapower is planning nuclear energys future. Traveling wave reactor wikipedia republished wiki 2. In teaching his students about this historical event, ben accidentally abuses his power as a teacher by exposing the kids to a. Travelingwave reactor twr technology, being developed by terrapower, llc. Study of traveling wave reactor twr and candle strategy. Gates is the chairman of terrapower, a startup whose design for a travelingwave reactor could make. Breeding converts incoming subcritical reload fuel into new critical fuel, allowing a breedburn wave to propagate. In the 20 min talk, he describes the urgent need for cheap, abundant, lowco2 energy, if we are to successfully mitigate climate change a problem he takes very seriously. China is becoming the testing ground for a new breed of nuclear power stations designed to be safer and cheaper, as scientists from the u. Bill gates has joined a field of inventors and investors in the future of nuclear energy. Bill gates on the wrong path with travelling wave reactors. To create the traveling wave reactor twr design, terrapower has put together a team that boasts unparalleled expertise in nuclear engineering, simulation.
In purely nuclear terms, it is a fastneutron breeder reactor using the u238 to plutonium fuel cycle, which dates back to the 1950s and was used in many experimental reactors. And while government researchers intermittently bring out new reactor designs, the travelingwave reactor is noteworthy for having come from something that barely exists in the nuclear industry. Pantak 1department of theoretical and experimental nuclear physics, odessa national polytechnic university, odessa, ukraine 2state ecological academy for postgraduate education, kiev, ukraine. In 1958, feinberg feinberg, 1958 first proposed that nuclear breedingburning waves can selfsustain and propagate in fissile material. A vibrating rope tied at one end will produce a standing wave, as shown in the figure. For well over a decade, bill gates has funded terrapower, a startup seeking to design, build, and commercialize a revolutionary nuclear reactor. What is the best book to study the reactor design, foglar. Better yet is this cylinder can be made up of the existing waste fuel from conventional nuclear reactors thats been problematic to store. Why arent we building a traveling wave reactor in the u. But this isnt your average high school drama story. Handbook of generation iv nuclear reactors 1st edition. A travelingwave reactor twr is a type of nuclear fission reactor that can convert fertile material into usable fuel through nuclear transmutation, in tandem with the burnup of fissile material. With the traditional nuclear reactor design, spent uranium rods must be removed every 18 to 24 months, safely stored and replaced with hundreds. For well over a decade, bill gates has funded terrapower, a startup seeking to design, build, and commercialize a revolutionary nuclear.
Some have operated well, while others have done poorly. Fast travelingwave reactor of the channel type vitaliy d. Nuclear reactor design an advanced course in nuclear. The companys flagship advanced nuclear reactor concept, the traveling wave reactor twr design, represents incredible progress in nuclear technology thanks to the power of advanced computer modeling and our dedicated team of scientists and engineers. The sodium coolant is also standard for this type of reactor. A private company called terrapower which is funded by bill gates among others has supposedly completed a design and is looking to actually build the first reactor. With respect to physical parameters, the core of terrapowers design is a cylinder, 10 feet wide and feet long.
The reactor uses depleteduranium fuel packed inside hundreds of hexagonal pillars shown in black and green. Popular new wave science fiction books showing 150 of 62 the man in the high castle paperback by. On some fundamental peculiarities of the traveling wave reactor. The traveling wave reactor twr is the brain child of edward teller and lowell wood, both famous veterans of us nuclear weapons development. On the basis of the condition for nuclear burning wave existence in the neutronmultiplying. The traveling wave that the reactors name references moves through the units core at a rate of only one centimeter per year. The traveling wave reactor twr is a proposed reactor design that belongs to a set known as generation iv designs that are different in a number of. The traveling wave reactor, twr constitutes a reformulation of the liquid metal fast reactor, lmfbr and the coupled cores concepts and a reformulation of battery reactors based on naval propulsion reactors designs. Terrapowers nuclear reactor could power the 21st century. It is possible both to increase the speed, the thermal power and the nal uence as well as decrease them. But will advanced reactor designs fuel a largescale nuclear. Teller is popularly known as the father of the hydrogen bomb. The highly disciplined group, modeled on the principles of the hilter youth, has its own salute, chants, and special ways of acting as a unit and sweeps beyond the. Many nuclear power experts say that the technology gates is promoting called a traveling wave reactor does not work as advertised, at least not yet.
In a wave that moves through the core at only a centimeter per year, this. Unlike todays reactors, a travelingwave reactor requires very little enriched uranium, reducing the risk of weapons proliferation. The travelling wave reactor concept is for a novel, fast neutron spectrum reactor that would use insitu breeding of its nuclear fuel essentially, the creation of the fuel within the reactor to. The press was founded in 2005, merging with established publisher verse press. He upset when he realizes that his students have questions about the holocaust that he cant answer he wishes he could give them more. These questions were answered by joshua beckman, editor at wave books, and matthew zapruder. There has been a lot of hype recently about the travelling wave reactor twr, thanks largely to a very popular ted talk given recently by none other than microsoft founder and multibillionaire bill gates. Well, the wave explores various examples of corrupt power. We are really happy with how it turned out, especially with the design, which gives the poems plenty of space. It recounts the story of the authors life before the tsunami struck the coast, and how it changed dramatically after the disaster. September 20 institute for energy and environmental research. The twrp plant design is also described in such areas as. A memoir of life after the tsunami by deraniyagala, sonali isbn.