AREVA to Build First EPR in U.S.

Comments

Josh said…

Whoops! The article says there are 103 EPRs in the US. I think they mean 103 LWRs or which the EPR is one model.

November 8, 2007 at 12:45 PM

Anonymous said…

I will believe the EPR construction when I see it. The DCD has not even been submitted and docketed. DCD approval has typically taken four to five years. That type of schedule would put EPR construction out to 2012 or 2013 at the earliest.

Calvert Cliffs and Callaway seem to be the only serious EPR buyers. AEHI may get their act together. Time will tell on them.

November 8, 2007 at 3:39 PM

How Nanomaterials Can Make Nuclear Reactors Safer and More Efficient

The following is a guest post from Matt Wald, senior communications advisor at NEI. Follow Matt on Twitter at @MattLWald.

From the batteries in our cell phones to the clothes on our backs, "nanomaterials" that are designed molecule by molecule are working their way into our economy and our lives. Now there’s some promising work on new materials for nuclear reactors.

Reactors are a tough environment. The sub atomic particles that sustain the chain reaction, neutrons, are great for splitting additional uranium atoms, but not all of them hit a uranium atom; some of them end up in various metal components of the reactor. The metal is usually a crystalline structure, meaning it is as orderly as a ladder or a sheet of graph paper, but the neutrons rearrange the atoms, leaving some infinitesimal voids in the structure and some areas of extra density. The components literally grow, getting longer and thicker. The phenomenon is well understood and designers compensate for it with a …

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NEI Nuclear Notes

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