I hadn't realized that a sodium cooled reactor could use the sodium as a heat store to modulate its electrical output to market demand, while still having the reactor running at full power. But apparently that's what the TerraPower design is supposed to do. Now, you could of course place any kind of heat battery between the reactor primary circuit and the turbine secondary circuit, but efficiency matters. #nuclear#terrapower https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04052024/wyoming-terrapower-nuclear-plant/
> ... much-hyped #SmallModularReactors (#SMRs), now.. in deep delay.. soaring prices. SMRs are theoretical nukes designed to be far smaller than today’s 1,000+ megawatt reactors, to be mass produced and buried throughout the country. Only #NuScale , has gotten significant preliminary licensing approval. Cost and delivery projections from #BillGates’s #TerraPower.. and other prospective[s].. are theoretical, with little.. data to back up when.. deployed.. what prices. https://truthout.org/articles/how-the-nuclear-renaissance-robs-and-roasts-our-earth/