Taylor Wilson off the fusion reservation - TED

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Richard Hull
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Taylor Wilson off the fusion reservation - TED

Post by Richard Hull »

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/05/15/ ... p=features

This is interesting! The boy is into everything.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Philipp W
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Re: Taylor Wilson off the fusion reservation - TED

Post by Philipp W »

Granted, the project may still be in a very early stage, but having only seen the video, I couldn't really tell the difference between Taylor's concept and an "ordinary" molten-salt reactor .
Does anybody, who is more familiar with this sort of reactors, have more information about the presented design / Taylor's entrepreneurship ambitions (which, I think are extremely creditable)?

Another "alternative" reactor concept certainly worth exploring is the Traveling Wave Reactor. This concept is currently being looked into by TerraPower.

I do really hope that research efforts put into these alternative concepts pay off at some point, because large-scale nuclear power plants at the current level of technology may become unprofitable due to heavily increased safety guidelines. (I remember hearing of rumors that the planned expansion of the Temelin NPP in the Czech Republic may not be cost-effective anymore.)

Best regards,
Philipp
Jeroen Vriesman
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Re: Taylor Wilson off the fusion reservation - TED

Post by Jeroen Vriesman »

Isn't it just a variation of the "Toshiba 4S" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_4S (collaborative project of Toshiba and Westinghouse)

The design study of the 4S started in 1988, in 1993 the US DOE got involved. The "blocking issue" is that these small reactors need the same safety rules as any other nuclear power plant.

The Taylor Wilson reactor would face the same legal issues as the 4S, I don't think the PR work of taylor Wilson can convince lawmakers to change the rules for small reactors.
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