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  • Hacker News
  • > "The Trump administration is proud to support the rebirth of America’s nuclear industry and ensuring Americans have access to affordable, reliable and secure energy for generations to come."

    > "The demonstration and the licensing pathway it establishes represent a key step toward deploying electricity-producing microreactors for U.S. military installations by September 30, 2028."

    So which is it? Power to the people or power to the military? This microreactor concept doesn't seem very well suited for commercial use.

    by sfn42
  • Is anyone working in the US on a waste solution that isn’t a big hole with a straight out of cyberpunk sci-fi warning plaque?

    The French reprocess and recycle fissile material but that’s kind of a gnarly industrial process. Still they do it and it works.

    The long term solution is to create a second kind of reactor that has a higher burn fraction which means a more fuel efficient fast reactor. Those would be, ideally, the big base load plants if we did this rationally.

    by api
  • Other than "not light-water", what type of reactor is it?
    by NoGravitas
  • I am still quite confused on the scientific consensus:

    Should we double down on renewable energy and solve its issues with lots of batteries or should we invest in next generation nuclear energy?

    Both at the same time?

    Does anyone know?

    by Traubenfuchs
  • From the article: > We said criticality in 2026, electricity production in 2027, and power to the warfighter in 2028.

    Are there any other examples of land-based militaries using nuclear power? Seems kind of like since they can't talk about the energy transition or w/e this has to be a military thing instead.

    by tech_ken
  • Congrats to everyone involved. This is a pretty awesome milestone
    by seanhunter
  • TRISO fuel so.. pebble bed? Is there a reluctance to market on this? The Chinese were all-in.

    Great to see engineering deliver on time. I wonder if Rolls Royce will also have a smooth ride. It's a PWR.

    by ggm
  • Antares were the first ones: https://www.energy.gov/articles/department-energy-celebrates...

    And closely followed by Valar Atomics two weeks later: https://www.energy.gov/articles/department-energy-celebrates...

    by e9

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