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evilgenius29 t1_j5dfyqw wrote

Didn't read the article yet but how is this different than the reactors that have been powering nuclear-powered submarines for decades?

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DocPeacock t1_j5dtkf1 wrote

Naval reactors use uranium that is much more highly refined and presumably they are allowed to be much less safe because you're not usually within many miles of civilians. NuScale smrs are made to be built in a factory and then shipped to site via train and truck. They are also designed to be installed in groups at a site. The design is, allegedly, inherently safe meaning the mechanical design prevents meltdown or the release of radiation.

Fundamentally they are the same in that they are pressurized water reactors that use fuel rods.

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fistedtaco t1_j5emer2 wrote

Naval reactors aren’t “much less safe” than civilian/commercial reactors.

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DocPeacock t1_j5fedbz wrote

I'm not saying they're less safe. I'm saying they would not have the type of safety requirements that a stationary civilian power plant must have.

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fistedtaco t1_j5fike6 wrote

And I’m saying you’re wrong. I’ve served on a nuclear powered naval vessel and worked ops at a commercial nuclear plant.

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DocPeacock t1_j5fontj wrote

And I was a nuclear reactor safety analyst for commercial pwrs. So what. I worked with many ex Navy people. I think they would all agree there's a big difference in operating requirements and environments that make their safety strategies quite different. Are navy nukes subject to NRC regulations? Is a nuclear sub required to have an exclusion zone, or any of the other site conditions that a commercial plant does? A ship or sub doesn't have to worry about loss of offsite power, staging FLEX equipment, store spent fuel. So you could argue that naval reactors are more safe, but they don't have the safety requirements to protect a nearby civilian population.

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fistedtaco t1_j5fprwz wrote

We actually did have all those concerns in the navy, just different ways of handling them. Navy nukes were subject to the heavy hand of Naval Reactors, who are way bigger cocksuckers than the NRC or INPO or those other ABC organizations.

Naval nuclear power and its development the reason civilian nuclear power is as safe as it is.

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Properjob70 t1_j5eymcl wrote

Only the military & govt experimental reactors are allowed to use High Enriched Uranium. SMRs have to use Low Enriched like any other civilian reactor.

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