Nuclear reactor meltdown up close series#

вЂњIn the new reactor designs, itвЂ™s basically impossible to exceed these temperatures, because the reactor kind of shuts down as it reaches these high temperatures,вЂќ says Demkowicz. Out of 300,000 particles, not a single triso coating failed during the two-week long test. But during the INL tests, Demkowicz demonstrated that triso could withstand reactor temperatures over 3,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Most nuclear reactors today operate well below 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and even the next generation high-temperature reactors will top out at about 2,000 degrees.

For the past few years, Demkowicz and his colleagues have been running qualification tests on triso fuel that involve putting them in a reactor and cranking the temperature.

Paul Demkowicz is the director of the Advanced Gas Reactor Field Development and Qualification Program at Idaho National Laboratory, and a large part of his job is simulating worst-case scenarios for next-generation nuclear reactors. Each particle is smaller than a poppy seed, but its layered shell can protect the uranium inside from melting under even the most extreme conditions that could occur in a reactor. Triso-short for вЂњtristructural isotropicвЂќ-fuel is made from a mixture of low enriched uranium and oxygen, and it is surrounded by three alternating layers of graphite and a ceramic called silicon carbide. ItвЂ™s called triso fuel, and itвЂ™s like a radioactive gobstopper. Their secret? Millions of submillimeter-size grains of uranium individually wrapped in protective shells. Not only will these reactors be smaller and more efficientВ than current nuclear power plants, but their designers claim theyвЂ™ll be virtually meltdown-proof. But a new generation of reactorsВ coming online in the next few years aims to make these kinds of disasters a thing of the past.

Nuclear reactor meltdown up close series#

The last time this happened was less than a decade ago, when a massive earthquake followed by a series of tsunamis caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan. A nuclear reactor works best when the core is really hot, but if it gets tooВ hot it will cause a meltdown and the environment will get poisoned and people may die and it will take billions of dollars to clean up the mess. There are several ways to do this, but in each case it involves a delicate balancing act between safety and efficiency.

The basic idea behind all nuclear power plants is the same: Convert the heat created by nuclear fission into electricity. This piece was originally published in Wired and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership. San Onofre nuclear power station-which has been in the process of decommissioning since 2013-in the early morning fog in San Clemente, California.