Friday, February 23, 2024

Nuclear Small Modular Reactor welding breakthrough: A year's work now takes a day

Good news! This seems to be huge improvement! Nuclear power to the people! 😊

"... UK company Sheffield Forgemasters welds a full-size nuclear reactor vessel in under 24 hours instead of the usual 12 months. ...
Modular reactors have the potential to revolutionize the nuclear power industry by turning nuclear generating plants from major civil engineering projects to factory-produced commodities. Instead of being essentially one-offs, modular reactors have a standardized design, can be mass produced, installed in any number required to serve local needs, and don't require the incredibly expensive buildings conventional reactors depend upon. ...
using what is called Local Electron-Beam Welding (LEBW) to complete four thick, nuclear-grade welds.
LEBW is a revolutionary method to weld two pieces of metal together using a high-energy density fusion process centered on a high-powered electron gun operating in a local vacuum. This melts and fuses components to one another and allows for an efficiency of 95%, deep penetration, and a high depth-to-width ratio. ...
Now, the UK government is looking toward a nuclear renaissance, with new plants planned – including 15 modular reactors to be constructed by Rolls-Royce. ..."

Nuclear SMR welding breakthrough: A year's work now takes a day

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