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by rgmerk 106 days ago
In theory, at least, they have finished their design, had it reviewed by the NRC, and had it approved, so there should be no significant design changes.

But that also applies for the current generation of reactors and nobody can build them to schedule or budget in the USA or Europe.
3 comments
mikeyouse 106 days ago
Yep. NuScale received design certification as well and still ended up with multiple huge revisions. It’s not easy to build any nuclear, much less a FOAK reactor.

But when that fails, you can just siphon up taxpayer money via your connections to the ruling cabal.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tiny-trump-linked-firm-in-line...

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topspin 106 days ago
> so there should be no significant design changes

The NRC frequently changes requirements for reactors while they're under construction. The NRC does not waive the right to demand changes merely due to prior design approval. This is a novel (for the US) design, so there will be unanticipated changes as the project progresses.

Russia has been operating two sodium cooled fast reactors for decades. The BN-600 and BN-800 are both operating today. The early history of the BN-600 was... interesting, suffering (at least) 14 sodium fires due to leaks. This "Natrium" design is similar; a sodium pool with two sodium loops. They are taking on the additional challenge of storing a massive quantity of molten salt. It's going to take a lot of effort by many steely eyed missile people to make this happen.

Trump issued an EO in 2025 that's supposed to make the NRC more circumspect about requiring changes of approved designs. Then there is all the pull Gates has. Wyoming is no hotbed of anti-nuclear activism. So that's all to TerraPower's favor. But TerraPower will need to fully utilize all the tailwind it can find to make this work.

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GolfPopper 106 days ago
To reference Admiral Rickover's 'Paper Reactor' memo [1], TerraPower is now going to commence transforming their paper design into a practical reactor. Historically, this does not usually prove successful.

1. https://whatisnuclear.com/rickover.html

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