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NN Asks: What hurdles stand in the way of nuclear power’s global expansion?
Jake Jurewicz
Nuclear technology is mature. It provides firm power at scale with minimal externalities and has done so for decades. The core problem isn’t about the technology—it is how the plants are built. Nuclear construction has a well-documented history of cost and schedule overruns. Previous nuclear plants often spent more than twice what was first budgeted, making nuclear among the power technologies with the largest average cost overruns worldwide.
Recent projects illustrate how severe the problem can be. In South Carolina, the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion saw projected costs rise from roughly $10 billion to more than $25 billion before the project was abandoned in 2017, by which time more than $9 billion had already been spent and customers were stuck paying for a site they have yet to benefit from.
I. Di Piazza, D. Martelli, C. Carrelli, T. Rovai, V. Raschioni, M. Ramacciotti, A. Spezzaneve, D. Ferretti, G. Mongiardini
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 4 | April 2024 | Pages 681-691
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2203285
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The present paper describes the experimental setup for flow-induced vibration in a fuel pin bundle test section with flowing lead. The test section is a 37-pin mock-up representative of the GEN-IV ALFRED fuel assembly and is manufactured to investigate the turbulence-induced vibrations in the pins. The pins are instrumented with longitudinal strain gauges (SGs), and with three SGs per monitoring point, the displacement signal can be recovered in terms of amplitude and frequencies. To achieve this goal, a complex algorithm is implemented in the data acquisition control system of the test section. The test section will be installed in the Heavy Liquid metal Experimental loop for Nuclear Applications (HELENA) facility at the ENEA Brasimone R.C., in which a mechanical pump for lead circulation is present. The test matrix is proposed with the mass flow rate varying from 10 to 50 kg/s and a constant temperature of 450°C for all the tests. Briefly, the experimental procedure is presented to carry out the experimental campaign.