Atlantic Broadband

[BroadHopper]

Envision that roofs and sides of homes will be covered with solar panels. With the help of the Tesla batteries and geothermal heating and cooling, there will be no reason a house can be self-sustaining. Like Woodsy says, the technology is a ways off.

Thorium reactors are here and is a viable alternative. That along with wind farms, solar farms, etc. The NIMBYS will have a field day!

[John Mercier]

So where is a thorium reactor currently operating and what is its Mwh output?

Where in NH would it be put so that the transmission lines could carry the output?
With the capital output and operational costs, could it compete with a modern natural gas-fired plant (that is where most of the NE-ISO generation comes from)?

For solar and wind, the State of NH is required to statutorily provide an incentive to cover the extra cost... so those are most likely only going to find support at the smaller residential level rather than the higher commercial level.

[Woodsy]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

So where is a thorium reactor currently operating and what is its Mwh output?

Where in NH would it be put so that the transmission lines could carry the output?
With the capital output and operational costs, could it compete with a modern natural gas-fired plant (that is where most of the NE-ISO generation comes from)?

For solar and wind, the State of NH is required to statutorily provide an incentive to cover the extra cost... so those are most likely only going to find support at the smaller residential level rather than the higher commercial level.

DARPA currently has several SMR (small modular reactor) projects going on now. Hyperion was developed at Los Alamos. Mini nuclear reactors are being developed worldwide. on average 1- 10 Mwh... The current thought process is they would be able to power a small city or base with little to no infrastructure upgrades. 10-15 year lifespan. Thorium is the current fave fuel as it cannot be weaponized, although other fuel/chemical designs are out there.

Eielson AFB in Alaska should have one up and running in the next few years. Lots of info available on the web. I think they are part of Project Pele....

https://gain.inl.gov/GAINEPRINEI_Mic...,19Aug2020.pdf

https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/b...-microreactors

Woodsy

[8gv]

https://youtu.be/P9wBpmZn9nA

[John Mercier]

So nothing commercial.

We have absolutely no way of determining if capitalist will invest in such a venture in NH, have serious knowledge of what the cost of capital and operation will result in a cost per KwH, nor any idea where it would tie into our grid.

The only way that is consider viable is by those that have no real money to invest.

Viable means ready to go... not in experimentation.

[Woodsy]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

So nothing commercial.

We have absolutely no way of determining if capitalist will invest in such a venture in NH, have serious knowledge of what the cost of capital and operation will result in a cost per KwH, nor any idea where it would tie into our grid.

The only way that is consider viable is by those that have no real money to invest.

Viable means ready to go... not in experimentation.

John,

There is this AMAZING tool called Google.... you should try it sometime. If you did, you would know that a company called NuScale already has NRC approval for their "commercial" SMR and expect to be up and running within the decade.

There are several private companies looking to commercialize SMR's.

Woodsy

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by Woodsy

John,

There is this AMAZING tool called Google.... you should try it sometime. If you did, you would know that a company called NuScale already has NRC approval for their "commercial" SMR and expect to be up and running within the decade.

There are several private companies looking to commercialize SMR's.

Woodsy

Wouldn't it be easier to answer ''there are no currently operational commercial thorium reactors, and we have no clue what their output really is... just theory.''
"We have no clue were it would tie into the NH grid, and since we don't have a clue as to the cost per Mw output... we can't determine whether it can compete with natural gas generation without an ongoing subsidy''

As can be noted by the NuScale Project: "In January 2021, UAMPS and NuScale executed agreements to help manage and de-risk the development of the CFPP. Pursuant to the initial orders from UAMPS, Fluor Corporation and NuScale (as a subcontractor to Fluor) are to develop higher maturity cost estimates and initial project planning work for the licensing, manufacturing, and construction of the CFPP.''

[Winilyme]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

Envision that roofs and sides of homes will be covered with solar panels. With the help of the Tesla batteries and geothermal heating and cooling, there will be no reason a house can be self-sustaining. Like Woodsy says, the technology is a ways off.

Thorium reactors are here and is a viable alternative. That along with wind farms, solar farms, etc. The NIMBYS will have a field day!

I believe in the not-too-distant future (not in my time) there will no long be a need for telephone poles, powerlines and all the infrastructure that accompanies the transport of power. Instead, as BroadHopper envisions, all homes and businesses will be powered by advanced on-site solar and battery technology. Imagine a landscape unencumbered by ugly powerlines that everyone wishes we could bury but it's too expensive to do so large scale? Imagine a time when you don't need to worry about power failures or invest in generators. Imagine a time when fire doesn't power home heating equipment. Imagine a time when energy is cheap.

[fatlazyless]

A wood stove, a pitcher handle pump here in the kitchen, and a copy of the bible is all ye ever be need'n ...... amen to that! ....

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by Winilyme

I believe in the not-too-distant future (not in my time) there will no long be a need for telephone poles, powerlines and all the infrastructure that accompanies the transport of power. Instead, as BroadHopper envisions, all homes and businesses will be powered by advanced on-site solar and battery technology. Imagine a landscape unencumbered by ugly powerlines that everyone wishes we could bury but it's too expensive to do so large scale? Imagine a time when you don't need to worry about power failures or invest in generators. Imagine a time when fire doesn't power home heating equipment. Imagine a time when energy is cheap.

Need is not why most things exist.
Energy is relatively cheap... if it wasn't we wouldn't waste so much of it.

[root1]

As a business, 'if you're not growing, you're dying'.