Taylor Wilson: My radical plan for small nuclear fission reactors

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Ming Sheng 校对人员: Catherina Pan

Well, I have a big announcement to make today,

今天我要隆重宣布一件事情，

and I'm really excited about this.

我真的很兴奋。

And this may be a little bit of a surprise

在座很多了解我一直以来的研究

to many of you who know my research

和工作的人

and what I've done well.

可能会有点小吃惊。

I've really tried to solve some big problems:

我一直在尝试解决一些大问题：

counterterrorism, nuclear terrorism,

比如反恐，核恐怖活动，

and health care and diagnosing and treating cancer,

还有医疗保健，癌症的诊断和治疗，

but I started thinking about all these problems,

然而当我开始思考这些问题，

and I realized that the really biggest problem we face,

我意识到，我们面临的最大问题，

what all these other problems come down to,

也是所有其他问题的根源，

is energy, is electricity, the flow of electrons.

是能源，电力，电子的流动。

And I decided that I was going to set out

我决定我要着手

to try to solve this problem.

来试着解决这一问题。

And this probably is not what you're expecting.

这可能有些出乎大家的意料。

You're probably expecting me to come up here

大家可能觉得我站在这里

and talk about fusion,

是来讲核聚变的，

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

因为那才是我这一生中大多数时候做的事情。

But this is actually a talk about, okay --

但其实我想讲的是，好吧~~

(Laughter) —

（笑声）

but this is actually a talk about fission.

其实我想讲的是核裂变。

It's about perfecting something old,

是关于如何将古老的东西完善，

and bringing something old into the 21st century.

然后把它们带入21世纪，古为今用。

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

让我们先简要的谈一谈核裂变的原理。

In a nuclear power plant, you have

在核电厂里， 你会看到

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

一大锅水，在一个高压的系统里，

and you have some fuel rods,

你还会看到一些燃料棒，

and these fuel rods are encased in zirconium,

这些燃料棒是被锆包裹，

and they're little pellets of uranium dioxide fuel,

它们是小球状的二氧化铀燃料，

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

裂变反应是受到控制的，被维持在一个恰当的程度，

and that reaction heats up water,

这个反应使水加热，

the water turns to steam, steam turns the turbine,

然后水变成蒸汽，蒸汽带动涡轮机，

and you produce electricity from it.

然后就可以发电了。

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

用蒸汽带动涡轮旋转，跟我们

the steam turbine idea, for 100 years,

100年来一直沿用的发电方法是一致的，

and nuclear was a really big advancement

但是用核能来给水加热

in a way to heat the water,

却真是一个巨大的进步，

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

但我们仍然需要烧水，让水变成蒸汽来带动涡轮机。

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

我在想，这真的是最好的办法了吗？

Is fission kind of played out,

裂变在这一过程中真的是物尽其用了，

or is there something left to innovate here?

还是留下了一些创新的空间？

And I realized that I had hit upon something

我意识到我碰到了一些东西，

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

我觉得这些东西具有改变世界的巨大潜力。

And this is what it is.

这个就是我要展示的。

This is a small modular reactor.

这是一个小型的单元反应堆。

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

它不像你在这张图里看到的反应堆那么大。

This is between 50 and 100 megawatts.

发电量在50-100兆瓦。

But that's a ton of power.

但那已经是很大的能量了。

That's between, say at an average use,

按平均用电量来算，

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

这个电量大概能供给两万五千到十万个家庭。

Now the really interesting thing about these reactors

这些反应堆真正有趣的地方在于

is they're built in a factory.

他们是在工厂里制造出来的。

So they're modular reactors that are built

所以说它们本质上

essentially on an assembly line,

是在装配线上组装起来的单元反应器，

and they're trucked anywhere in the world,

然后再由大卡车运送到世界各地，

you plop them down, and they produce electricity.

“扑通”放在地上，然后就开始发电。

This region right here is the reactor.

这个区域就是反应堆。

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

它是埋在地下的，这个非常重要。

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

对于那些从事反恐行动的人来说，

I can't extol to you

不用我宣扬，

how great having something buried below the ground is

大家也知道能把东西埋在地下有多好，

for proliferation and security concerns.

出于对核扩散和安全性的考虑。

And inside this reactor is a molten salt,

在这个反应器里面是一种熔盐，

so anybody who's a fan of thorium,

如果有人很喜欢钍的话

they're going to be really excited about this,

他们一定会对这个感到很兴奋，

because these reactors happen to be really good

因为这个反应堆恰好在

at breeding and burning the thorium fuel cycle,

钍燃料的增殖燃烧转化循环中有很好的表现，

uranium-233.

经过一系列变化钍的最终产物是铀233。

But I'm not really concerned about the fuel.

但是我并不关心燃料的问题。

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

它们可以很容易被消耗掉。我要讲的是，这些反应堆很“饥饿”，

they really like down-blended weapons pits,

它们很喜欢那些经过混合掺杂浓度变低的核弹头，

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

核弹头含有高浓度的铀和武器级别的钚，

that's been down-blended.

但它们经过掺杂浓度都变低了，

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

以致它们不再适合用作核武器。

but they love this stuff.

但是这些反应堆却很喜欢它们。

And we have a lot of it sitting around,

而且我们现在有很多这样的闲置的核弹头,

because this is a big problem.

这是一个大问题。

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

大家都知道，冷战的时候，我们建了巨大的核武器兵工厂，

of nuclear weapons, and that was great,

当时觉得很棒，

and we don't need them anymore,

但现在我们不再需要了，

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

那我们应该怎么从根本上处理这些核垃圾呢？

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

怎么来处理那些核弹头呢？

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

好吧，我们可以把它们保护起来，但如果

if we could burn them, eat them up,

我们可以把它们烧掉，或者“吃”掉，那就太棒了，

and this reactor loves this stuff.

而这个反应堆就很喜欢这些东西（可以把它们“吃”掉）。

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

这个反应器是一个熔盐反应堆。它有一个堆芯，

and it has a heat exchanger from the hot salt,

还有一个热交换器在放射性热盐

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

和非放射性冷盐之间进行热量交换。

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

热力学上来讲是热的，但它实际上不具有放射性。

And then that's a heat exchanger

正是这个热能交换器

to what makes this design really, really interesting,

使得这个反应堆的设计特别引人关注，

and that's a heat exchanger to a gas.

这是一个气体热交换器。

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

回到我之前讲的，所有的电，

being produced -- well, other than photovoltaic --

除了光电池产生的，

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

都是由水蒸汽带动涡轮旋转产生的，

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

事实上这种方法效率不是很高，

in a nuclear power plant like this,

像这样一个核电厂，

it's only roughly 30 to 35 percent efficient.

发电效率大概只有30%到35%，

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

也就是说反应堆产生的热能只能

to how much electricity it's producing.

转化成30%到35%的电能。

And the reason the efficiencies are so low is these reactors

效率这么低的原因是这些反应堆

operate at pretty low temperature.

是在非常低的温度下进行操作的。

They operate anywhere from, you know,

它的操作温度

maybe 200 to 300 degrees Celsius.

大概在200到300摄氏度之间。

And these reactors run at 600 to 700 degrees Celsius,

而这种反应堆的操作温度在600到700摄氏度之间，

which means the higher the temperature you go to,

热力学上来说温度越高，

thermodynamics tells you that you will have higher efficiencies.

效率越高。

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

并且这个反应堆不需要用水。它用的是气，

so supercritical CO2 or helium,

是超临界态的二氧化碳和氦气，

and that goes into a turbine,

然后这些气体会达到涡轮机，

and this is called the Brayton cycle.

这个过程被称作“布雷顿循环” 。

This is the thermodynamic cycle that produces electricity,

这是一种热力学循环，能产生电流

and this makes this almost 50 percent efficient,

可使发电效率接近50%，

between 45 and 50 percent efficiency.

介于45%到50%之间。

And I'm really excited about this,

这让我很兴奋，

because it's a very compact core.

因为这是一个体积非常小的堆芯。

Molten salt reactors are very compact by nature,

熔盐反应堆天生体积就很小，

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

更棒的是等量的铀

for how much uranium you're fissioning,

裂变能产生更多的电，

not to mention the fact that these burn up.

更不要说那些燃耗。

Their burn-up is much higher.

它们的燃耗要高很多。

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

所以如果向反应堆投加给定量的燃料，

a lot more of it's being used.

消耗的燃料会更多。

And the problem with a traditional nuclear power plant like this

像这样一个传统的核电厂有一个问题，

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

就是这些燃料棒是被锆合金包裹的，

and inside them are uranium dioxide fuel pellets.

燃料棒里面才是二氧化铀燃料小球。

Well, uranium dioxide's a ceramic,

二氧化铀是一种陶瓷材料，

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

然而陶瓷材料不容易释放它内部的东西。

So you have what's called the xenon pit,

所以我们有一种叫做氙坑的东西，

and so some of these fission products love neutrons.

这些裂变产物中的某些很喜欢中子，

They love the neutrons that are going on

它们喜欢那些

and helping this reaction take place.

能帮助反应持续进行的中子。

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

它们会“吃”掉这些中子，

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

再加上燃料棒外的金属涂层并不持久，

you can only run one of these reactors

这就意味着，这些反应堆

for roughly, say, 18 months without refueling it.

大概只能运行18个月，在不添加燃料的情况下。

So these reactors run for 30 years without refueling,

而这些反应堆，在不添加燃料的情况下，可以运行30年，

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

在我看来，这是非常令人吃惊的，

because it means it's a sealed system.

因为这就意味着，这将是一个密封的体系。

No refueling means you can seal them up

不用添加燃料意味着这些反应堆可以被密封起来

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

然后就没有核扩散的风险，

and they're not going to have

不会有

either nuclear material or radiological material

核物质或者放射性物质

proliferated from their cores.

从堆芯扩散出来。

But let's go back to safety, because everybody

但是让我们再来谈一谈安全性，因为每个人，

after Fukushima had to reassess the safety of nuclear,

在日本福岛核事故以后都想要对核能的安全性进行重新评估，

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

所以在我着手设计一个核能反应堆的时候

was it had to be passively and intrinsically safe,

我考虑的一个问题就是，这个反应堆本身必须是安全的、温和的，

and I'm really excited about this reactor

我对这个反应堆感到很兴奋，

for essentially two reasons.

本质上有两个原因，

One, it doesn't operate at high pressure.

第一，反应堆所需的操作压力并不高。

So traditional reactors like a pressurized water reactor

传统的反应堆，像那些增压水反应堆

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

或者沸水反应堆，都会用到温度很高的水

at very high pressures, and this means, essentially,

并且压力很高，这就意味着，

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

一旦遇到事故，

of this stainless steel pressure vessel,

只要这个不锈钢承压容器有一点点缺口，

the coolant would leave the core.

冷冻剂就会从堆芯逸出。

These reactors operate at essentially atmospheric pressure,

而我的这些反应堆基本上是在大气压下运行的，

so there's no inclination for the fission products

所以在事故中，那些裂变产物

to leave the reactor in the event of an accident.

不大会离开反应堆。

Also, they operate at high temperatures,

并且，这些反应堆是在很高的温度下运行的，

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

燃料已经是熔化态，所以不会出现熔毁，

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

但是如果出现反应超出反应堆耐受性的情况

or you lost off-site power in the case

或者装置外电源断电

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

像福岛事故那样，就必须有一个核废料贮藏罐。

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

因为燃料是液态的，并且和冷冻剂在一块儿

you could actually just drain the core

实际上，我们可以仅仅把堆芯中的液体

into what's called a sub-critical setting,

排到一个叫做亚临界的环境，

basically a tank underneath the reactor

就是在反应堆下面的一个贮藏罐

that has some neutrons absorbers.

里面有一些中子吸收器。

And this is really important, because the reaction stops.

这个很重要，因为这样一来反应就会终止。

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

对这种反应堆，我们就不能那样处理。

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

它用的燃料，我之前说过，是包在锆合金燃料棒里面的陶瓷材料，

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

在事故中，这种类型的反应堆

Fukushima and Three Mile Island --

像福岛和三哩岛——

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

回头看三哩岛核泄漏，我们很久都没有再看到这样的事故了——

but these zirconium claddings on these fuel rods,

但是包裹在这些燃料棒上的锆合金涂层，

what happens is, when they see high pressure water,

会发生的是，当它们遇到高压水，

steam, in an oxidizing environment,

蒸汽，在一个氧化环境中，

they'll actually produce hydrogen,

它们会产生氢气，

and that hydrogen has this explosive capability

氢气具有爆炸性，

to release fission products.

会释放裂变产物。

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

所以这个反应堆的堆芯，因为不受压力

and it doesn't have this chemical reactivity,

而且没有化学反应活性，

means that there's no inclination for the fission products

裂变产物不会倾向于

to leave this reactor.

离开反应堆。

So even in the event of an accident,

所以即使是在事故中，

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

哦，是的，反应器可能会被烧毁，那样的话

sorry for the power company,

对核电厂就只好说声抱歉了，

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

但是大范围的核污染是不会发生的。

So I really think that in the, say,

所以，我真的觉得，

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

我们会用20年的时间

and make fusion a reality,

来使聚变成一个现实，

this could be the source of energy

这可以成为一个种能源

that provides carbon-free electricity.

提供无碳电力。

Carbon-free electricity.

无碳电力，

And it's an amazing technology because

是一个非常令人惊叹的技术，

not only does it combat climate change,

因为它不仅可以防止气候变化

but it's an innovation.

而且还是一种创新。

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

是一个把能源带到正在发展的国家的方法，

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

因为它可以在工厂里很便宜的制造出来。

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

你可以把它放到世界上任何一个你想放的地方。

And maybe something else.

呃，也许还有一些其他的用途。

As a kid, I was obsessed with space.

在我还是个小孩子的时候，我对太空很着迷。

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

好吧，到某一阶段的时候，我对核科学也很着迷

but before that I was obsessed with space,

但是在那之前，我对太空很着迷，

and I was really excited about, you know,

我很兴奋地，你知道

being an astronaut and designing rockets,

想成为一个宇航员或者火箭设计师，

which was something that was always exciting to me.

这一直以来都让我非常激动与兴奋。

But I think I get to come back to this,

所以我觉得我要回到我小时候的梦想，

because imagine having a compact reactor in a rocket

试想一下，如果把这个便携式小型反应堆安装在火箭上，

that produces 50 to 100 megawatts.

而且它能产生50-100兆瓦的电。

That is the rocket designer's dream.

那是一个火箭设计师的梦想。

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

那是一个想要在另一个星球设计一个栖息地的人的梦想。

Not only do you have 50 to 100 megawatts

你不仅仅拥有50-100兆瓦的电力

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

来提供能使你到达那里所需的推进力，你想发动多少就发动多少，

but you have power once you get there.

而且一旦你到达了那里，你仍然拥有很大的电能。

You know, rocket designers who use solar panels

你知道，有一些用太阳能电池板

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

或者燃料电池的火箭设计师只能获得几瓦或几千瓦的电

wow, that's a lot of power.

哇，那已经是很多电了。

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

但是现在我们谈的是100兆瓦。

That's a ton of power.

那真是太多太多的电能了。

That could power a Martian community.

那都可以为一个火星人社区供电了。

That could power a rocket there.

那可以驱动一个火箭达到这个社区。

And so I hope that

所以我希望

maybe I'll have an opportunity to kind of explore

也许我也会有机会来探索

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

我的火箭梦，在我探索我的核电梦的同时。

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

也有人会说：”哦，好吧，你发射了这个东西

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

到太空，它是具有放射性的，那要是发生了事故怎么办？“

But we launch plutonium batteries all the time.

但是我们不是一直在发射钚电池嘛。

Everybody was really excited about Curiosity,

大家都对”好奇号“火星探测器感到很兴奋，

and that had this big plutonium battery on board

那个探测器上就有一个很大的钚电池，

that has plutonium-238,

用的是钚238，

which actually has a higher specific activity

它其实比这些熔盐反应堆里的低浓度铀燃料

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

具有更高的比活度，

which means that the effects would be negligible,

这就意味那些影响几乎可以忽略不计，

because you launch it cold,

因为我们是在它还未启动的时候就发射出去了，

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

当到达太空后，我们才真正激活这些反应堆。

So I'm really excited.

所以我很激动。

I think that I've designed this reactor here

我觉得我设计的这个反应堆

that can be an innovative source of energy,

可以成为一个能源革新，

provide power for all kinds of neat scientific applications,

为各种各样非常棒的科学应用提供能源，

and I'm really prepared to do this.

我已经准备好了来开发这项技术。

I graduated high school in May, and --

我在五月份时高中毕业，

(Laughter) (Applause) —

（笑声）（掌声）——

I graduated high school in May,

我五月份已经从高中毕业了，

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

我当时决定要创立一家公司

to commercialize these technologies that I've developed,

来使我的很多发明商业化，

these revolutionary detectors for scanning cargo containers

比如革命性的探测器来扫描货物集装箱，

and these systems to produce medical isotopes,

还有那些可以生产医用同位素的系统，

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

但是现在我还是想做这个，我已经慢慢建立了一个团队

a team of some of the most incredible people

团队里都是一些不可思议了不起的人

I've ever had the chance to work with,

我从未有机会和这样的人一起工作，

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

现在我已经准备好要将这个变为现实。

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

我想，我想，从技术角度来看，

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

这会比天然气便宜，或者价格差不多。

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

而且30年不需要添加燃料，

which is an advantage for the developing world.

这对于正在发展中的国家来说是一个好处。

And I'll just say one more maybe philosophical thing

最后我要再说一点，算是一个比较哲学的东西，

to end with, which is weird for a scientist.

来结束我的演讲，或许对于一个科学家来说这可能有点奇怪，

But I think there's something really poetic

但是我觉得这是一个很有诗意的东西，

about using nuclear power to propel us to the stars,

用核能驱动把人类带到其他星球，

because the stars are giant fusion reactors.

因为那些星球本身就是巨大的核聚变反应堆。

They're giant nuclear cauldrons in the sky.

它们就像是太空中沸腾的巨型核能汽锅。

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

我今天能在这里演讲所需要的能量，

while it was converted to chemical energy in my food,

尽管是从我食物中的化学能转化而来，

originally came from a nuclear reaction,

但最初的能量还是源于核反应，

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

所以在我看来，这是一些很诗意的东西：

perfecting nuclear fission

使核裂变的更完美

and using it as a future source of innovative energy.

然后将它作为未来新能源。

So thank you guys.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）