Oddbean new post about login | logout Maersk is developing a small maritime nuclear reactor. Floating citadels got a step closer. https://www.ecoticias.com/en/maersk-nuclear-power-engine/5935/
This is very interesting. As someone who works in the maritime industry I see that there are some huge hurdles, such as: -Would all countries allow operation of a reactor in their coastal waters? Debateable, -What to do with all the wasted energy when the vessel is idle due to reactors running constantly? Maybe bitcoin miners on board ships or connecting to a countries grid and selling the energy to the port state? -At $6mil per unit it is waaay to expensive, the price would likely have to quarter for it to become viable, and even then it's still like three times more than an equivalent conventional diesel generator. But if your not paying for bunker (marine diesel) over the next 5-7 years, maybe it starts balancing costs? I have no idea what it costs to refuel a nuclear reactor soo... 🤷🏻♂️ -Vessels would need to employ and train up nuclear engineers, this will be another huge expense putting off investment. I see a path forward for this technology, it's not impossible, but there are lots of stones in the road. nostr:nevent1qqsp9cg2ffn3adt8yjt9ttl35wsfdmdll6c7q4zj0v68ymtw74jqckgpz9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejj7q3qhklphk7fkfdgmzwclkhshcdqmnvr0wkfdy04j7yjjqa9lhvxuflsxpqqqqqqzlxugfz
That's really interesting, and an obvious option if they can get past the real challenges of running a nuclear power plant on a container ship, while also dealing with the massive amount of propaganda against nuclear that is so prevalent. Even in this article the authors say "Of course, you already know that this source is neither renewable nor clean, which is not a good idea, according to what we think."
Bottom lines trump icky opinions. Fuel costs have spiked so high that this not only makes sense, but it is inevitable. These SMRs are going to be part of the future, and not too far into the future.
Yeah, SMR's have been around for awhile now. The only thing stopping them is governments addiction to being thought nicely off by the green lobby...
The big business pressure is mounting to allow them, though. I can't wait for this, personally.
Me too, it would be a game changer. Though i'm too cynical to belive it would drop energy prices 🤣
Well, look at what BTC mining is doing for Texas. Prices are dropping. It IS possible.
It is, but I'm enough of a conspiracy theorist to belive thats out of our control.. 🤣
Interesting to think how about 70 years ago, there was a boom in nuclear power fascination for everything. I wonder if we are headed to another boom in this specifically, on the other side of the crisis. From the source: https://www.lr.org/en/knowledge/press-room/press-listing/press-release/lr-and-core-power-to-conduct-next-generation-nuclear-container-ship-regulatory-study/ #technology #nostr #nostriches #plebs #plebchain #grownostr #thecyclerepeats nostr:nevent1qqsp9cg2ffn3adt8yjt9ttl35wsfdmdll6c7q4zj0v68ymtw74jqckgpz4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezummcw3ezuer9wchsyg9ahcdahjdjt2xcnk8a4u97rgxumqmm4jtfravh3y5s8f0amphz0upsgqqqqqqslayets