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Nuclear Regulatory Commission unanimously approved a radical new reactor design on Thursday, clearing away a major obstacle for two utilities to begin construction on projects in South Carolina and Georgia.
The decision, a milestone in the much-delayed revival of plant construction sought by the nuclear industry, involves the Westinghouse AP1000, a 1,154-megawatt reactor with a so-called advanced passive design. It relies more heavily on forces like gravity and natural heat convection and less on pumps, valves and operator actions than other models do, in theory diminishing the probability of an accident.
N.R.C. Clears Way for Nuclear Plant Construction - NYTimes.com
Seeded on Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:09 AM EST
Article Source: The New York Times
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Sorry -- I deleted my comment because I must have been half asleep when I wrote it (typos galore!)
To repeat WITHOUT embarrassing myself :) --
The AP1000 is one of the few Generation III Nuclear Reactors in the World and I think it's a very fitting addition to the Industry that the United States virtually created.
#2 - Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:03 AM ESTNo thorium? What's the plan for all the radioactive waste?
#3 - Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:55 AM ESTIn all honesty, even without reprocessing (which would recover about 95% of what makes the spent fuel radioactive) the amount of "waste" Nuclear Plants produce is a pittance compared to Coal (Coal being their only real competitor in base-load power generation).
Point of fact, all of the spent fuel rods created since the start of the Nuclear Power Industry in the 50s would fit into a single football field.
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