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The first US nuclear reactor built from scratch in decades enters commercial operation in Georgia (apnews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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ATLANTA (AP) — A new reactor at a nuclear power plant in Georgia has entered commercial operation, becoming the first new American reactor built from scratch in decades.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is this a pressurized water reactor, like the one at Fukushima?

Yes.

[–] reddig33 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well that’s a shame. If you’re going to build new reactors, why not try a newer design that’s less risky and puts out less waste? Still waiting for a pebble reactor, for example.

[–] yaaaaayPancakes 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Look, just because it's a PWR, doesn't mean it's a bad design by default.

Fukushima was a Gen II reactor. These new reactors are Westinghouse AP1000's and they're classified as Gen III+. By comparison, Fukushima's reactors are archaic in design.

Gen III+ reactors are smaller, and are greatly simplified designs, and most importantly, have passive cooling features. Passive cooling is what Fukushima didn't have. If the external power gets cut to these new reactors for an extended period of time, AND the backup generators get knocked out too, they can leverage these passive features to cool the reactor and prevent a Fukushima-style event.

[–] DrDominate 3 points 1 year ago

That is very cool information