I’m interested to dig into how the HTGR works. I have what I would call an “average redditor” level of understanding about how graphite and heavy water regulated reactors work but I’m not one of those let’s go all in on nuclear Andys so I’m not up to date on the latest designs.
My main issues with nuclear are the safety, costs compared to other green solutions like solar and wind, what to do about the waste and ensure that it is stored safely for the centuries or millennia that it needs to be stored safely, and how/where the raw materials are mined (see France wrt Niger). The article makes it out that this design improves safety so that’s good. I’m curious to look into how much it costs compared to the Westinghouse designed reactors that China is building (has built recently?) per kWh.
Hahahaha, I’m dying! I went to YouTube to find a video about high-temperature gas cooled reactor designs and found this very informative video from a professor in Illinois: https://youtu.be/_mJ3S-VQuHY?si=tNIO1F4NluetZQ1c. He goes over the basic design and benefits of them compared to Gen 3 reactors and then finishes the video, which was published 4 years ago, by saying that they are being tested out in labs and if they prove useful and commercially viable then maybe we will see them rolling out in “30 to 40 years”! And China did it in 4, embarrassing 😂