Last Energy is a startup working to make low-cost small pressure water reactors (20 MW) with simple off the shelf parts. They are designing to keep things simple, use as much off the shelf parts as possible and to use workers with existing training and skills.
The demonstration model project showcases Last Energy’s standard, modular building approach to quickly scale nuclear energy.
Last Energy is a new nuclear energy solution for customers of any size – rapidly deploying fast, affordable, clean baseload power at scale through a full-service delivery model.
It is air-cooled. It does not have to be put near water.
They will make distributed small base load power plants using modular design and construction.
Bret Kugelmass and Last Energy aim to build their first ten inexpensive, off-the-shelf fission reactors in eastern Europe. Kugelmass is working with federal agencies to get export permissions for Last’s nuclear technology. They are not yet asking for approval to build his plants in the U.S. They want the first 20-megawatt reactor (enough to power 20,000 homes) up and running by 2025 in Poland, which has been getting 70% of its power from burning coal since Russian natural gas supplies were cut off. Poland has agreed to buy the electricity from 10 of the units, which Kugelmass hopes to make for $100 million each, under a long-term contract that requires Last Energy to operate the reactors and take on the risk of cost overruns.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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It is all great until the Rooskeys bomb your cooling system
Seaborg Energy is the real dark horse to watch out for. If their Sodium Hydroxide molten moderator salt actually works.
Yes, the secret to affordable nuclear power is to use fuming molten lye as a coolant. After 75 years and trillions of dollars spent on the science of fission, the solution emerged from a basement in Copenhagen /s
FWIW Bret Kugelmass has been interviewing nuclear experts & posting the interviews at “Titans of Nuclear” since 2018.
Most of ‘today’s experts’ have as much experience as Bret.
The cost just to license the NUSCALE reactor was over 1/2 billion dollars, as acknowledged by NUSCALE themselves. That design is around 60 MW electric output.
The Last Energy claimed 30 efficiency is unlikely at a reactor temperature of 530C; steam temperature is much lower, so thermodynamics do not support the claim. More likely around 28%. Throw in air cooled condenser for steam turbine and efficiency likely drops another percent or two – fans used with air cooled condenser use a lot of energy.
Conventional water reactor fuel has limitations on enrichment (associated with safety considerations). The ability to operate long periods of times with enrichment of around 5% U235 is limited – refueling typically occurs after a few years. Conventional water reactors can refuel in a week or so – rest of outage time frame is associated with maintenance of the rest of the plant.
Historically, the reactor represents about 10% of the cost of the plant. Mass production of reactors occurred in the 1970s. Standardization of plant designs can typically reduce follow-on plant costs by 15% to 20%; based on shipyard experience with navy ships.
I wish Last Energy good luck, but the hurdles to deployment are formidable. I also council that they avoid attempting to license the plant in the U.S. as the regulatory bureaucracy will likely bankrupt their company.
Marketing research shows that four 20 MW reactors arranged in a cloverleaf courtyard with manicured landscaping and tasteful architecture is better than a single 100 MW reactor on a brownfield within a steel ribbed industrial building.
Bret Kugelmass is so irritating. Too bad he didn’t stick with “internet drones”.
300C air cooled will be difficult.
What is special about Poland to make this possible?
Are their regulations different?
No,this is all news to the Polish,who have a vigorous nuclear program. Last Energy barely has a extremely bare bones website, the Polish are building Ge Hatachi SMR’s,and perhaps they will use NuScaleSMR’s,plus they are building large reactors,I think US AP 1000’s.
Seems to be AP1000s going to Poland, what 8 of them?
If they can stay out of the neighboring conflict, they MIGHT build a station. It isn’t totally improbable that they eventually build something, provided they don’t get involved in a shooting war with Russia and cease to exist as a nation for the second time in 100 years.
OK I take it back, this news is credible, the numbers are vastly inflated, this isn’t investment, but electricity sales over decades,but still, Brian does always have good info on fission, and fusion for that matter.
Good stuff. Just a pity it wasn’t done 50 years ago.
I was thinking the same thing. No reinventing the wheel, just standardize it and mass produce it.
Wheels have been continuously improved over the years, same with nuclear power plants, the Poles are embarking on a VERY vigorous nuclear power plan.