Taylor Wilson: My radical plan for small nuclear fission reactors

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevoditelj: Igor Pureta Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

Well, I have a big announcement to make today,

Danas želim objaviti nešto zaista veliko

and I'm really excited about this.

i zaista sam uzbuđen zbog toga.

And this may be a little bit of a surprise

Ovo može biti malo iznenađujuće

to many of you who know my research

za mnoge od vas koji dobro poznajete moja istraživanja

and what I've done well.

i što sam napravio.

I've really tried to solve some big problems:

Stvarno sam pokušao riješiti neke velike probleme:

counterterrorism, nuclear terrorism,

protuterorizam, nuklearni terorizam,

and health care and diagnosing and treating cancer,

zdravstvenu skrb, dijagnosticiranje i liječenje raka,

but I started thinking about all these problems,

no počeo sam razmišljati o svim tim problemima,

and I realized that the really biggest problem we face,

i shvatio sam da je stvarno najveći problem s kojim smo suočeni,

what all these other problems come down to,

na što spadaju svi ostali problemi,

is energy, is electricity, the flow of electrons.

energija, struja, tok elektrona.

And I decided that I was going to set out

Odlučio sam pokušati

to try to solve this problem.

riješiti taj problem.

And this probably is not what you're expecting.

Ovo vjerojatno nije što očekujete.

You're probably expecting me to come up here

Vjerojatno očekujete da ovdje

and talk about fusion,

govorim o fuziji,

because that's what I've done most of my life.

jer sam to radio većinu svog života.

But this is actually a talk about, okay --

No ovo je zapravo govor o - u redu --

(Laughter) —

(Smijeh) --

but this is actually a talk about fission.

no ovo je zapravo govor o fisiji.

It's about perfecting something old,

O usavršavanju nečega starog,

and bringing something old into the 21st century.

i donošenju nečega starog u 21. stoljeće.

Let's talk a little bit about how nuclear fission works.

Recimo ukratko kako fisija funkcionira.

In a nuclear power plant, you have

U nuklearnoj elektrani imate

a big pot of water that's under high pressure,

veliku posudu s vodom pod pritiskom,

and you have some fuel rods,

i nekoliko cijevi za gorivo,

and these fuel rods are encased in zirconium,

koje su obložene cirkonijem;

and they're little pellets of uranium dioxide fuel,

postoje male palete goriva uranijevog dioksida,

and a fission reaction is controlled and maintained at a proper level,

i fisijska reakcija je kontrolirana i održavana na propisnoj razini,

and that reaction heats up water,

kako bi reakcija zagrijavala vodu,

the water turns to steam, steam turns the turbine,

voda se pretvorila u paru, para okretala turbinu

and you produce electricity from it.

i kako bi proizvodili struju.

This is the same way we've been producing electricity,

To je isti način na koji proizvodimo struju,

the steam turbine idea, for 100 years,

ideja parne turbine, zadnjih 100 godina,

and nuclear was a really big advancement

a nuklearno je bio veliki napredak

in a way to heat the water,

u načinu zagrijavanja vode,

but you still boil water and that turns to steam and turns the turbine.

no još uvijek zagrijavate vodu koja se pretvara u paru i okreće turbinu.

And I thought, you know, is this the best way to do it?

I mislio sam, znate, je li to najbolji način?

Is fission kind of played out,

Je li fisija iscrpljena

or is there something left to innovate here?

ili postoji ovdje još nešto za inovirati?

And I realized that I had hit upon something

Shvatio sam da sam došao do nečega

that I think has this huge potential to change the world.

za što mislim da ima ogroman potencijal da promijeni svijet.

And this is what it is.

Ovo je to.

This is a small modular reactor.

Ovo je mali modularni reaktor.

So it's not as big as the reactor you see in the diagram here.

Nije velik kao reaktor koji vidite na dijagramu ovdje.

This is between 50 and 100 megawatts.

Proizvodi između 50 i 100 megavata.

But that's a ton of power.

No, to je jako puno energije.

That's between, say at an average use,

Recimo da bi, u prosjeku,

that's maybe 25,000 to 100,000 homes could run off that.

između 25.000 do 100.000 kućanstava moglo biti opskrbljeno strujom.

Now the really interesting thing about these reactors

Vrlo zanimljiva stvar oko ovih reaktora

is they're built in a factory.

je da su proizvedeni u tvornici.

So they're modular reactors that are built

Dakle, to su modularni reaktori koji su

essentially on an assembly line,

izgrađeni, u principu, na pokretnoj traci,

and they're trucked anywhere in the world,

i mogu biti dostavljeni bilo gdje u svijetu,

you plop them down, and they produce electricity.

postavite ih i proizvode struju.

This region right here is the reactor.

Ovaj dio ovdje je reaktor.

And this is buried below ground, which is really important.

Zakopan je ispod zemlje, što je stvarno važno.

For someone who's done a lot of counterterrorism work,

Za nekoga tko je radio puno na protuterorizmu,

I can't extol to you

ne mogu vam dovoljno uveličati

how great having something buried below the ground is

koliko je izvrsno imati nešto zakopano pod zemljom

for proliferation and security concerns.

zbog širenja nuklearnog oružja i brige u vezi zaštite.

And inside this reactor is a molten salt,

Unutar reaktora je otopljena sol,

so anybody who's a fan of thorium,

dakle bilo tko, tko voli torij,

they're going to be really excited about this,

će biti vrlo uzbuđen zbog ovoga,

because these reactors happen to be really good

jer ovi reaktori su stvarno dobri

at breeding and burning the thorium fuel cycle,

u uzgajanju i spaljivanju ciklusa torijevog goriva,

uranium-233.

uranija 233.

But I'm not really concerned about the fuel.

No nisam toliko zabrinut za gorivo.

You can run these off -- they're really hungry,

Možete ih pokretati -- stvarno su gladni,

they really like down-blended weapons pits,

zapravo su poput spremišta oslabljenog oružja,

so that's highly enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium

dakle vrlo obogaćenog uranija i plutonija vojne razine

that's been down-blended.

koji su oslabljeni.

It's made into a grade where it's not usable for a nuclear weapon,

Dovedeni su do stadija gdje nisu iskoristivi za nuklearno oružje,

but they love this stuff.

no vole ovo.

And we have a lot of it sitting around,

Imamo ga mnogo koje leži okolo,

because this is a big problem.

jer je ovo velik problem.

You know, in the Cold War, we built up this huge arsenal

U hladnom ratu, izradili smo ogroman arsenal

of nuclear weapons, and that was great,

nuklearnog oružja, što je bilo super,

and we don't need them anymore,

no sada ih više ne trebamo,

and what are we doing with all the waste, essentially?

i što ćemo, suštinski, sa svim tim otpadom?

What are we doing with all the pits of those nuclear weapons?

Što radimo sa svim spremištima nuklearnog oružja?

Well, we're securing them, and it would be great

Osiguravamo ih i bilo bi odlično

if we could burn them, eat them up,

kada bi ih mogli spaliti, pojesti,

and this reactor loves this stuff.

a ovaj reaktor voli te stvari.

So it's a molten salt reactor. It has a core,

Dakle to je reaktor otopljene soli. Ima jezgru

and it has a heat exchanger from the hot salt,

i izmjenjivač topline iz vruće soli,

the radioactive salt, to a cold salt which isn't radioactive.

radioaktivne soli, u hladnu sol koja nije radioaktivna.

It's still thermally hot but it's not radioactive.

Toplinski je još uvijek vruća, no nije radioaktivna.

And then that's a heat exchanger

Ovo je toplinski izmjenjivač

to what makes this design really, really interesting,

koji čini ovaj dizajn vrlo zanimljivim,

and that's a heat exchanger to a gas.

i to tako da stvara plin.

So going back to what I was saying before about all power

Vraćajući se na ono što sam rekao prije o svoj

being produced -- well, other than photovoltaic --

energiji koja se proizvodi -- osim fotonaponske --

being produced by this boiling of steam and turning a turbine,

koja se proizvodi parom koja okreće turbinu,

that's actually not that efficient, and in fact,

koja nije toliko učinkovita, i ustvari,

in a nuclear power plant like this,

u nuklearnim elektranama poput ove,

it's only roughly 30 to 35 percent efficient.

u grubo je učinkovita oko 30-35%.

That's how much thermal energy the reactor's putting out

To je omjer toplinske energija koju reaktor stvara

to how much electricity it's producing.

i koliko struje proizvodi.

And the reason the efficiencies are so low is these reactors

Razlog niske učinkovitosti ovih reaktora je zbog

operate at pretty low temperature.

niske temperature na kojoj rade.

They operate anywhere from, you know,

Rade negdje između

maybe 200 to 300 degrees Celsius.

možda 200 do 300 stupnjeva Celzijusa.

And these reactors run at 600 to 700 degrees Celsius,

A ovi reaktori rade na 600 do 700 stupnjeva Celzijusa,

which means the higher the temperature you go to,

što znači da što više raste temperatura,

thermodynamics tells you that you will have higher efficiencies.

termodinamika vam govori da ćete imati veću učinkovitost.

And this reactor doesn't use water. It uses gas,

Ovaj reaktor ne koristi vodu. Koristi plin

so supercritical CO2 or helium,

kao što su superkritični CO2 ili helij,

and that goes into a turbine,

i to ide u turbinu,

and this is called the Brayton cycle.

i ovo se zove Braytonov ciklus.

This is the thermodynamic cycle that produces electricity,

To je termodinamički ciklus koji proizvodi struju,

and this makes this almost 50 percent efficient,

i učinkovitost se penje na 50%,

between 45 and 50 percent efficiency.

između 45 i 50%.

And I'm really excited about this,

Vrlo sam uzbuđen zbog ovoga,

because it's a very compact core.

jer je jezgra vrlo zbijena.

Molten salt reactors are very compact by nature,

Reaktori otopljene soli su po prirodi vrlo kompaktni,

but what's also great is you get a lot more electricity out

no također je sjajno da se dobije puno više struje

for how much uranium you're fissioning,

za onoliko uranija koliko sudjeluje u fisiji,

not to mention the fact that these burn up.

da ne spominjemo činjenicu da izgaraju.

Their burn-up is much higher.

Njihovo izgaranje je puno više.

So for a given amount of fuel you put in the reactor,

Dakle za danu količinu goriva koje stavite u reaktor,

a lot more of it's being used.

puno više se iskoristi.

And the problem with a traditional nuclear power plant like this

Problem s tradicionalnim nuklearnim elektranama poput ove

is, you've got these rods that are clad in zirconium,

je da imate cijevi obložene cirkonijem,

and inside them are uranium dioxide fuel pellets.

a unutar njih su palete goriva uranijevog dioksida.

Well, uranium dioxide's a ceramic,

Uranijev dioksid je keramika,

and ceramic doesn't like releasing what's inside of it.

a keramika ne voli ispuštati ono što je u njoj.

So you have what's called the xenon pit,

Dakle imate ono što se zove spremište ksenona,

and so some of these fission products love neutrons.

i neki od ovih produkata fisije vole neutrone.

They love the neutrons that are going on

Vole neutrone koji

and helping this reaction take place.

potpomažu ovoj reakciji.

And they eat them up, which means that, combined with

Pojedu ih, što znači da, u kombinaciji s

the fact that the cladding doesn't last very long,

činjenicom da oblaganje ne traje dugo,

you can only run one of these reactors

možete pokretati samo jedan reaktor

for roughly, say, 18 months without refueling it.

u grubo, recimo, 18 mjeseci bez ponovnog punjenja.

So these reactors run for 30 years without refueling,

Ovi reaktori mogu trajati 30 godina bez ponovnog punjenja,

which is, in my opinion, very, very amazing,

što je, po mom mišljenju, vrlo, vrlo čudesno,

because it means it's a sealed system.

jer to znači da je sustav zatvoren.

No refueling means you can seal them up

Bez ponovnog punjenja znači da ih možete zapečatiti

and they're not going to be a proliferation risk,

i izbjegavamo rizik širenja nuklearnog oružja,

and they're not going to have

niti će

either nuclear material or radiological material

nuklearni ili radiološki materijal

proliferated from their cores.

biti odvlačen iz njihovih jezgri.

But let's go back to safety, because everybody

No, vratimo se na sigurnost, jer su svi

after Fukushima had to reassess the safety of nuclear,

nakon Fukushime morali preispitati sigurnost nuklearnog,

and one of the things when I set out to design a power reactor

i jedna od stvari, kada sam odlučio dizajnirati reaktor energije

was it had to be passively and intrinsically safe,

je da mora biti pasivno i intrinzično sigurno,

and I'm really excited about this reactor

i jako sam uzbuđen oko ovog reaktora

for essentially two reasons.

iz dva razloga, suštinski.

One, it doesn't operate at high pressure.

Jedan, ne operira na visokom tlaku.

So traditional reactors like a pressurized water reactor

Tradicionalni reaktori kao vodeni reaktor po pritiskom

or boiling water reactor, they're very, very hot water

ili reaktor kipuće vode, su vrlo, vrlo vruća voda

at very high pressures, and this means, essentially,

pod vrlo velikim pritiskom, a to znači, u suštini,

in the event of an accident, if you had any kind of breach

u slučaju nezgode, ako postoji bilo kakav proboj

of this stainless steel pressure vessel,

ovog spremnika od nehrđajućeg čelika pod pritiskom,

the coolant would leave the core.

rashladna tekućina bi napustila jezgru.

These reactors operate at essentially atmospheric pressure,

Ovi reaktori operiraju pri, u principu, atmosferskom tlaku,

so there's no inclination for the fission products

dakle nema sklonosti produkata fisije

to leave the reactor in the event of an accident.

da napuste jezgru u slučaju nesreće.

Also, they operate at high temperatures,

Također, rade na visokim temperaturama,

and the fuel is molten, so they can't melt down,

a gorivo je otopljeno, tako da se ne mogu otopiti,

but in the event that the reactor ever went out of tolerances,

no u slučaju da reaktor ikad prekorači sigurnosni raspon

or you lost off-site power in the case

ili ste izgubili energiju u slučaju nečega

of something like Fukushima, there's a dump tank.

poput Fukushime, postoji kontejner za otpad.

Because your fuel is liquid, and it's combined with your coolant,

Jer je svo gorivo tekuće i pomiješano s rashladnom tekućinom,

you could actually just drain the core

možete iscrpiti jezgru

into what's called a sub-critical setting,

u ono što se zove sub-kritično stanje,

basically a tank underneath the reactor

u osnovi, spremnik ispod reaktora

that has some neutrons absorbers.

ima absorbere neutrona.

And this is really important, because the reaction stops.

Ovo je vrlo važno jer reakcija prestaje.

In this kind of reactor, you can't do that.

U ovakvom reaktoru ne možete to napraviti.

The fuel, like I said, is ceramic inside zirconium fuel rods,

Gorivo, kao što sam rekao, je keramika unutar cijevi obloženim cirkonijem,

and in the event of an accident in one of these type of reactors,

i u slučaju nesreće u ovakvom reaktoru,

Fukushima and Three Mile Island --

Fukushima i Three Mile Island --

looking back at Three Mile Island, we didn't really see this for a while —

retrospektivno na Three Mile Island, nismo to vidjeli neko vrijeme --

but these zirconium claddings on these fuel rods,

no oblog cirkonija na cijevima goriva,

what happens is, when they see high pressure water,

kada vidi vodu pod visokim pritiskom,

steam, in an oxidizing environment,

paru, u oksidirajućem okolišu,

they'll actually produce hydrogen,

proizvodi vodik,

and that hydrogen has this explosive capability

a taj vodik ima eksplozivnu sposobnost

to release fission products.

da ispusti produkte fisije.

So the core of this reactor, since it's not under pressure

Dakle jezgra ovog reaktora, s obzirom da nije pod pritiskom

and it doesn't have this chemical reactivity,

i da nema kemijsku reaktivnost,

means that there's no inclination for the fission products

znači da nema sklonosti produkata fisije

to leave this reactor.

da napuste reaktor.

So even in the event of an accident,

Dakle, čak i u slučaju nesreće,

yeah, the reactor may be toast, which is, you know,

da je reaktor spaljen, što je,

sorry for the power company,

šteta za poduzeće,

but we're not going to contaminate large quantities of land.

on neće kontaminirati velike količine zemlje.

So I really think that in the, say,

Stvarno mislim da u, recimo,

20 years it's going to take us to get fusion

20 godina koje će nam trebati da dođemo do fuzije

and make fusion a reality,

i napraviti fuziju stvarnošću,

this could be the source of energy

ovo bi mogao biti izvor energije

that provides carbon-free electricity.

koji pruža struju bez ugljika.

Carbon-free electricity.

Struja bez ugljika.

And it's an amazing technology because

To je čudesna tehnologija, jer

not only does it combat climate change,

ne samo da se bori protiv klimatskih promjena,

but it's an innovation.

nego je inovacija.

It's a way to bring power to the developing world,

Način da se donese struja u svijet u razvoju,

because it's produced in a factory and it's cheap.

jer je proizvedeno u tvornici i jeftino je.

You can put them anywhere in the world you want to.

Možete ih staviti bilo gdje na svijetu gdje želite.

And maybe something else.

I možda još nešto.

As a kid, I was obsessed with space.

Kada sam bio klinac, bio sam opsjednut svemirom.

Well, I was obsessed with nuclear science too, to a point,

Bio sam opsednut i nuklearnom znanosti, do neke mjere,

but before that I was obsessed with space,

no prije toga sam bio opsjednut svemirom,

and I was really excited about, you know,

i bio sam vrlo uzbuđen zbog mogućnosti,

being an astronaut and designing rockets,

da budem astronaut i dizajniram rakete,

which was something that was always exciting to me.

što je uvijek bilo uzbuđujuće za mene.

But I think I get to come back to this,

No mislim da se mogu vratiti ovome,

because imagine having a compact reactor in a rocket

jer, zamislite imati kompaktni reaktor u raketi

that produces 50 to 100 megawatts.

koji proizvodi 50 do 100 megavata.

That is the rocket designer's dream.

To je san dizajnera raketa.

That's someone who is designing a habitat on another planet's dream.

To je san nekoga tko zamišlja stanište na drugom planetu.

Not only do you have 50 to 100 megawatts

Ne samo da imate 50 do 100 megavata

to power whatever you want to provide propulsion to get you there,

da napajate što god želite, da pruža pogon da dođete do tamo,

but you have power once you get there.

već imate energiju i kada stignete.

You know, rocket designers who use solar panels

Znate, dizajneri raketa koji koriste solarne panele

or fuel cells, I mean a few watts or kilowatts --

ili ćelije s gorivom, dakle nekoliko vata ili kilovata --

wow, that's a lot of power.

vau, to je puno energije.

I mean, now we're talking about 100 megawatts.

Trenutno govorimo o 100 megavata.

That's a ton of power.

To je hrpetina energije.

That could power a Martian community.

To bi moglo napajati zajednicu na Marsu.

That could power a rocket there.

Moglo bi napajati raketu tamo.

And so I hope that

I nadam se da

maybe I'll have an opportunity to kind of explore

ću možda imati priliku istražiti

my rocketry passion at the same time that I explore my nuclear passion.

svoju strast za raketama u isto vrijeme u koje istražujem svoju strast za nuklearnim

And people say, "Oh, well, you've launched this thing,

Ljudi kažu: "Oh, lansirao si ovu stvar,

and it's radioactive, into space, and what about accidents?"

a radioaktivno je, u svemir, a što je s nezgodama?"

But we launch plutonium batteries all the time.

No lansiramo baterije plutonija cijelo vrijeme.

Everybody was really excited about Curiosity,

Svi su bili vrlo uzbuđeni oko Curiosity,

and that had this big plutonium battery on board

a ono je imali veliku bateriju plutonija na sebi

that has plutonium-238,

koja sadrži plutonij 238,

which actually has a higher specific activity

koji zapravo ima veću specifičnu aktivnost

than the low-enriched uranium fuel of these molten salt reactors,

nego nisko obogaćen uranij ovih reaktora otopljene soli,

which means that the effects would be negligible,

što znači da bi efekti bili neznatni,

because you launch it cold,

jer ih lansirate hladnima,

and when it gets into space is where you actually activate this reactor.

i kada dođu u svemir, tamo aktivirate reaktor.

So I'm really excited.

Dakle vrlo sam uzbuđen.

I think that I've designed this reactor here

Mislim da sam dizajnirao ovaj reaktor

that can be an innovative source of energy,

kako bi bio inovativan izvor energije,

provide power for all kinds of neat scientific applications,

pružio energiju za sve vrste znanstvenih aplikacija,

and I'm really prepared to do this.

i stvarno sam spreman napraviti ovo.

I graduated high school in May, and --

Maturirao sam u svibnju, i --

(Laughter) (Applause) —

(Smijeh) (Pljesak) --

I graduated high school in May,

Maturirao sam u svibnju,

and I decided that I was going to start up a company

i odlučio sam da ću otvoriti poduzeće

to commercialize these technologies that I've developed,

za komercijalizaciju ovih tehnologija koje sam razvio,

these revolutionary detectors for scanning cargo containers

ove revolucionarne detektore ispitivanja teretnih kontejnera

and these systems to produce medical isotopes,

i ove sustave proizvodnje medicinskih izotopa,

but I want to do this, and I've slowly been building up

no želim napraviti ovo i polako sam počeo

a team of some of the most incredible people

sakupljati tim nekih od najdivnijih ljudi

I've ever had the chance to work with,

s kojima sam ikad imao priliku raditi,

and I'm really prepared to make this a reality.

i stvarno sam spreman napraviti ovo u stvarnosti.

And I think, I think, that looking at the technology,

I mislim, gledajući tehnologiju,

this will be cheaper than or the same price as natural gas,

da će ovo biti jeftinije ili iste cijene kao prirodan plin,

and you don't have to refuel it for 30 years,

i ne morate ga puniti 30 godina,

which is an advantage for the developing world.

što je prednost za svijet u razvoju.

And I'll just say one more maybe philosophical thing

Reći ću još jednu možda filozofsku stvar

to end with, which is weird for a scientist.

za kraj, što je čudno za znanstvenika.

But I think there's something really poetic

No, mislim da ima nešto poetično

about using nuclear power to propel us to the stars,

u korištenju nuklearne energije da nas pokrene do zvijezda,

because the stars are giant fusion reactors.

jer su zvijezde ogromni fuzijski reaktori.

They're giant nuclear cauldrons in the sky.

One su ogromni nuklearni kotlovi na nebu.

The energy that I'm able to talk to you today,

Energija o kojoj vam mogu danas pričati,

while it was converted to chemical energy in my food,

dok se pretvarala u kemijsku energiju u mojoj hrani,

originally came from a nuclear reaction,

originalno dolazi iz nuklearne reakcije,

and so there's something poetic about, in my opinion,

stoga postoji nešto poetsko, po mom mišljenju,

perfecting nuclear fission

u usavršavanju nuklearne fisije

and using it as a future source of innovative energy.

i korištenju kao budućeg izvora inovativne energije.

So thank you guys.

Hvala vam, ljudi.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)