Nuclear Testing: This one-third scale test unit at Oregon State University allows researchers to measure the performance of NuScale’s reactor design. Steam is generated using electricity rather than nuclear reactions.
NuScale
NuScale
COMPUTING
Small Nukes Get Boost
Fluor, the engineering giant, is investing $30 million to rescue the struggling startup NuScale.
The large engineering and construction firm Fluor has taken a majority stake in NuScale Power, a startup that has been developing small, modular nuclear reactors. The investment effectively rescues NuScale, which had been near financial collapse after its biggest investor was indicted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for violating regulations.
The deal with Fluor will allow NuScale to continue its efforts to license its power plant design with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with the goal of having the first one up and running by 2020. Fluor's engineers will help with the certification work, and the company eventually plans to engineer and build NuScale's power plants.
The investment by Fluor is a vote of confidence in small modular nuclear reactors. These reactors generate 300 megawatts or less, about a third of what conventional nuclear reactors generate, and are designed to be safer and easier to manufacture. The technology has been gaining attention in recent years as high costs and safety concerns, such as those kindled by the nuclear accident at Fukushima, have hurt the prospects of large, conventional nuclear power plants. At the same time, organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency are anticipating a large market for small nuclear reactors in poor countries and in rural areas that don't have the infrastructure or demand to accommodate conventional large reactors.
Other major engineering and construction companies in the nuclear industry have recently shown support for small modular reactors, including Bechtel and Babcock & Wilcox, which this summer announced a partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority to work toward building six of Babcock and Wilcox's small mPower reactors. Worldwide, dozens of designs being developed, including efforts in Japan, Korea, China, Russia, and Argentina. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has made development and licensing of small modular reactors a focus for the U.S. Department of Energy.
The NuScale reactor design is based on technology developed by the DOE and Oregon State University, which was involved in the design and certification of the new Westinghouse AP1000 power plants that are being built now in China and at two locations in the United States. The reactor is a type of light water reactor, one of the most common types of reactors in use today. NuScale has completed a detailed preliminary design, and intends to submit a design certification application to the NRC next year.
NuScale's reactors are designed to generate 40 megawatts each, compared to over 1,000 megawatts for conventional reactors. They can be linked together on site to generate larger amounts of electricity. Traditionally, nuclear power plants have been built large to take advantage of economies of scale. But the large size of the projects leads to long construction times, and delays and cost overruns are common, heightening the risk for investors and increasing financing costs.
Smaller reactors, which can be built in factories rather than assembled on site, could be faster to build, lowering financing costs. The designs can also be simpler, and thus cheaper than conventional nuclear power plants, since the smaller reactors require lower pressures, for example, and their small size makes it practical to combine multiple elements into one containment vessel. Some experts have calculated that costs per megawatt could be comparable to large nuclear reactors, but no one really knows because no small, modular commercial nuclear power plants have been built yet.
Even if costs per megawatt prove higher than with conventional plants, their small size might make them attractive in areas that lack the power lines and other infrastructure needed to distribute power from a large reactor, and that may not immediately have demand for the full power output of a large reactor. The modular design could allow utilities to gradually add more reactors as demand increases. Several rural electric cooperatives in the United States have expressed interest in using NuScale's small nuclear reactors to replace aging coal plants—the small size of the plants would eliminate the need to upgrade existing transmission lines.
Critics of small nuclear reactors, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, say that large numbers of small reactors could be more difficult to manage during an accident, and could pose greater risk of nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue states.
“When They were crawling like that, They pleased Their mothers. The bells tied to Their waist and ankles sounded fascinating, and They would move around very pleasingly.” (
Who were these two youths? The younger one was named Krishna because of His attractiveness and bluish complexion. Picture the dark raincloud that is about to pour down its nectar onto the crops that badly need it. Rain is not immediately appreciated by those looking to play outside or those hoping to avoid traffic on the roads. For the farmers, however, the rain is the necessary ingredient to maintain their way of life. Without the regular occurrence of showers, the crops could not be nourished, which would then leave the farmer without his source of income. More importantly, the food supply itself would be depleted. In this way, the young child's complexion was perfectly suited to His personality, for He would generously donate life-giving elixir to everyone who viewed Him with love and affection.
There are so many children appearing in different communities who also give delight to their parents and are given names which give pleasure to those who recite them. What then is so unique about Krishna and Balarama? Their divine natures are, of course, the reason for the attention given to them. That the person from whom everything emanates can descend to this temporary world and follow childish, sportive activities takes a lot of faith to accept, but the risk is well worth it. Shri Krishna is the very person we refer to as God; He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Though the soul is not tied to its temporary body, it still has intelligence, bliss and eternality. This means that every soul is a personality, a person. The hands, legs, eyes and other features of the body are impersonal; they do not make up one’s identity. The atma, or soul, is the personality, the identifiable aspect. Similarly, the entire creation, including both the spiritual and material energies, does not directly represent the original Personality of Godhead. Since He is the Supreme Soul, He is also a person.
As young children not yet knowing how to walk, Krishna and Balarama had ankle bells put on by their mothers. For the bells to make noise, the two children had to move. Whenever the mothers would hear the bells tinkling, they would know that their beloved children were trying to crawl and walk. Thus they derived the most wonderful pleasure from hearing that sound and looking at their children.
Parents can’t force their children to become God conscious, but they can set up the environment where that end can be best achieved. It’s similar to how we ensure that our children get a good education and live in an environment conducive to acquiring knowledge so that they’ll grow up to be intelligent. We can’t actually do the homework for the children, for then they wouldn’t learn anything that way. The parents can create the proper surroundings, provide some encouragement, and see what happens from there.
Krishna did not explicitly give Vrindavana tremendous opulence, knowledge of Vedanta, protection from being sent to hell, or any other reward not related to the foremost properties of the soul. He gave the residents pleasure, bliss and happiness not found through any other exchange. Krishna's pastimes were so wonderful that they thrilled anyone who heard about them. Moreover, descriptions of His childhood play give pleasure to people hearing about them today, many thousands of years after the fact.
