The most popular nuke power plant design is the PWR or Pressurized Water Reactor and this design has everything inside containment except for the heat exchanger steam output going to the turbine. It?s a safe design and there are about 120 of this type plant in Europe. I believe the PWR reactor coolant pumps and /or spare parts are still made in Cheswick, PA. But on other fronts, I believe the US has gone out of the business long ago.
The huge base load 1000 MW turbines for nuke plants were once made in Schenectady, NY, but last through there, I saw that the base load turbine manufacturing facilities have been torn down and it?s the same story in Lester, PA. TVA started to build a nuke plant near Rogersville, TN, but got no further than the foundation and these days just stacks of rusting re bar, and a foundation, kind of a sad field of frustration to look at.
Even if we wanted to build a nuke plant, we would, of necessity, have to import all the major components and begin again with nuke power plant engineering curriculum in our Universities. I don?t know of anyone that is putting any serious R & D funding into nuke power plant designs or equipment so we are well the other side of grass roots and have a not so trusting or willing power generation industry, to boot. Too many got burned badly with all the vacillation, impossible licensing procedures and mountains of specification requirements to be met.
But the endless arguing and obstructionism makes consideration of a resurgent nuke power plant industry a mute point, I?m not sure we can get there from here. Jeezz, even getting a license for a fossil fired plant takes longer that it takes to construct the plant so I can?t even imagine what it would take to license a new construction nuke power plant, maybe forever.
Scamp
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I'd rather be a hammer than a nail, yes I would, I really would.
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