nuclear power -- is it safe to go back in the water again?

Thanks in part to the 1979 movie "The China Syndrome" and the accidents at Three Mile Island (also in 1979) and, most notably, Chernobyl (in 1986), most folks duck and cover when someone suggests a return to nuclear power generation. This was an understandable reaction for that day, since the designs of nuclear power plants were indeed dangerous (obviously).

Times (and designs) have changed. The new kid on the block is called PBR, which stand for Pebble Bed Reactor, also known as PBMR or Pebble Bed Modular Reactor. So what's the big deal? The links at the end of this entry will give you all the details, but ...

Safety, for one thing. Cost, for another. And a bonus (and badly needed) byproduct for yet another.

The pebbles (which contain the fuel) in a PBR are specifically designed (due to an effect called "doppler broadening") to shut down the nuclear reaction as they get hotter. So, there's no possibility of a runaway reaction.

The problems with liquid cooling (which in the old design accounted for a much larger amount of the reactor facility than the reactor itself) are gone. PBR reactors use an inert or semi-inert gas such as helium, nitrogen or carbon dioxide for cooling. Any leak (much less likely than in prior designs) would have a very low level of radioactivity since these gases do not readily absorb neutrons or other impurities.

PBRs are designed using small, self-contained modules, each roughly the size of half a football field. Need more power? Tack on a few more. No more need for sprawling complexes and ultra-complicated interconnecting hardware, software and people.

The valuable byproduct? Hydrogen. Lots of it. Our need for commercially available hydrogen will grow exponentially as the fuel cell industry moves forward from the testing environment into everyday use. PBRs will provide a ready source for our growing hydrogen gas appetite.

Of course, there are flaws in every design, and these systems are no different. What is different is that PBRs use fuel that is specifically designed to be self-limiting. The Germans, the South Africans and the Dutch (among others) are pursuing this technology. Let's not let past fears cloud our evaluation of new, promising technology that can free us from our addiction to oil.

Is it safe to go back in the water? I say so. Do your own research (starting with the links below) and see if it makes sense to you as well. If it does, voice your opinion to those who can make it happen.

Phillip Dunn: Safe Nuclear Power and Green Hydrogen Fuel

Wikipedia article on the Pebble Bed Reactor