Mistle posted:

Among the many things BP sprayed into the Gulf of Mexico to de-oil the oil:

https://news.utexas.edu/2016/05/09/potential-of-oil-eating-bacteria-from-bp-oil-spill-decoded

They were used, but far less effective than they could have been, never mind that nobody considered using bacteria-friendly dispersants.

As it turns out, the natural oil seepage from the gulf has natural petroleum-eating microbes, and between those and artificially-produced microbes, they composed part of the cleanup, and still do, given how much oil settled on the seabed.

Also, turns out, when the ocean is full of the pure, unrefined crude, and devoid of microbe-eating flora and fauna, there's nothing to compete with?

Phanatic posted:

Well, I'd expect it's relevant to whether we're releasing oil-eating microbes to clean up oil spills.

Phanatic posted:

Unless I'm missing something, that article's talking about bugs that are naturally present in the environment, not strains that were deliberately inoculated into the spill.

The Lone Badger posted:

How so? The point is to release 'oil-eating microbes' so you can say you've done something and move on with drilling some more. Actually eating the oil is strictly ancilliary.

Phanatic posted:

Nah. We know how to make a thorium reactor work, and we've built some and some are generating useful power, right now, today.

Commercial fusion presents not just enormous engineering difficulties, but enormous theoretical and materials ones as well. We do not know how to make a commercial fusion plant, and we don't know of suitable materials to build one even exist in the universe.

The lack of thorium plants is a political problem. The lack of fusion plants is a non-political problem.

spankmeister posted:

This is wrong because yeah LFTR, MSR existed but there is a long way to go before any type of thorium breeder design is going to be commercially viable. The concept is proven, but that's about it.
A lot of research still needs to go into materials science because guess what, hot molten salt is corrosive as gently caress and you don't want to have to shut down all the time to do maintenance.

Then there's the whole safety certification for any new nuclear power plant to go through which can take a decade.

I'm all for the thorium cycle, really. But it's at best still a decade out.

Say Nothing posted:

Are you sitting comfortably?

Say Nothing posted:

Are you sitting comfortably?

spankmeister posted:

This is wrong because yeah LFTR, MSR existed but there is a long way to go before any type of thorium breeder design is going to be commercially viable. The concept is proven, but that's about it.
A lot of research still needs to go into materials science because guess what, hot molten salt is corrosive as gently caress and you don't want to have to shut down all the time to do maintenance.

Then there's the whole safety certification for any new nuclear power plant to go through which can take a decade.

I'm all for the thorium cycle, really. But it's at best still a decade out.

Dirt Road Junglist posted:

The downside to all this, "Let's wait for the China Syndrome generation to die, then we'll get nuke plants!" ideal is that...who's gonna build them? And run them? The brain drain is already in progress, and by the time the prevailing public opinion rotates back around to the idea that nuclear energy is a good idea, we'll have lost everyone with tribal knowledge or even basic training in nuclear science.

Facebook Aunt posted:

Cheer up, there are still lots of nuke plants running all over the world, and more being built every year. If america decides it needs more expertise it'll just hire those guys.

Facebook Aunt posted:

Cheer up, there are still lots of nuke plants running all over the world, and more being built every year. If america decides it needs more expertise it'll just hire those guys.

Dirt Road Junglist posted:

The downside to all this, "Let's wait for the China Syndrome generation to die, then we'll get nuke plants!" ideal is that...who's gonna build them? And run them? The brain drain is already in progress, and by the time the prevailing public opinion rotates back around to the idea that nuclear energy is a good idea, we'll have lost everyone with tribal knowledge or even basic training in nuclear science.

Cthulu Carl posted:

MIT has the second highest power research reactor and is still training students on using it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QcN3KDexcU

Phanatic posted:

You really don't, the attractive materials aren't all that attractive. Also, nobody actually gives a poo poo about proliferation. The entire world has stood by and watched proliferation for decades; since the non-proliferation treaty went into effect we've watched like half a dozen states become nuclear powers and done nothing to even slow that roll, so "this reactor design is no good because of proliferation concerns" is just concern trolling.

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

I got to go inside the University of Virginia reactor when I was there once. Could see the fuel or whatever at the bottom of this pool it was in. I remember it had a blue glow that was like a shade of blue I had never seen before. It was pretty neat.

spankmeister posted:

This is wrong because yeah LFTR, MSR existed but there is a long way to go before any type of thorium breeder design is going to be commercially viable. The concept is proven, but that's about it.
A lot of research still needs to go into materials science because guess what, hot molten salt is corrosive as gently caress and you don't want to have to shut down all the time to do maintenance.

Then there's the whole safety certification for any new nuclear power plant to go through which can take a decade.

I'm all for the thorium cycle, really. But it's at best still a decade out.

ekuNNN posted:

Collateral Damage posted:

The blue glow is called Cherenkov radiation and is a pretty interesting physical phenomenon.

In simple terms you're seeing the "sonic boom" of charged particles as they travel through the water, because the (phase) speed of light in water is lower than the speed of the particle.

Facebook Aunt posted:

more being built every year

tsa posted:

modern medical science is impossible with nuclear reactors hth

also how are people still so loving stupid about nuclear smdh

quote:

In the heyday of global nuclear development, nuclear plants drew the best of the best from universities and an abundant engineering and nuclear knowledge worker pool. But in the United States the newest nuclear power plants started contributing to the energy grid in the mid-1980s, resulting in a significant time gap in the development of new nuclear plants.

This latency in the evolution of nuclear power has affected the industry by reducing the number of nuclear university programs and discouraging new engineers from pursuing disciplines in the nuclear field. During this period a global freeze on new nuclear plant development magnified the problem. The amount of new talent entering the industry became stagnant for decades.

With the new emphasis on green energy, smaller carbon footprints and the ecological impact and cost of fossil fuels, the nuclear industry is once again growing, producing a rising market demand for nuclear professionals and an increased awareness of the need to maintain, sustain and grow the nuclear knowledgebase. The growth of the industry will be impeded unless viable solutions are implemented to capture and apply the knowledge of workers.

In 2006, the IAEA’s (International Atomic Energy Agency) report titled Risk Management of Knowledge Loss in Nuclear Industry Organizations stated “There are two other complicating factors. The USA faces the issue of a ‘greying’ workforce where literally half the current workers will be eligible to retire within the next five years.

throw to first drat IT posted:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olkiluoto_Nuclear_Power_Plant#Unit_3

Zipperelli. posted:

No loving way...

Spatial posted:

So what was the cost cutting mechanism that killed this person? Using an explosive gas instead of air because the cylinder ran empty that day? Just overcompressing the poo poo out of it for some reason?

Spatial posted:

So what was the cost cutting mechanism that killed this person? Using an explosive gas instead of air because the cylinder ran empty that day? Just overcompressing the poo poo out of it for some reason?

cyberbug posted:

Construction started 2005
Today's projected completion estimate is September 2019

Yeah, don't hire those guys if you want a nuclear plant anytime soon

porktree posted:

I am thinking the only thing that could make this thread more interesting is if we could somehow move the nuclear reactors with self-driving cars.

porktree posted:

I am thinking the only thing that could make this thread more interesting is if we could somehow move the nuclear reactors with self-driving cars.

Lurking Haro posted:

How about a nuclear bus?

Say Nothing posted:

Are you sitting comfortably?

unpleasantly turgid posted:

uh pardon what the gently caress happened here

Kibayasu posted:

Wasn’t there a short lived TV series about a nuclear train?