Interesting Documentary on the Dounreay Breeder Reactor

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The discussion centers around an interesting documentary about the Dounreay Breeder Reactor and a personal tour of the Torness nuclear reactor complex in Scotland. Participants highlight the complexities of reprocessing nuclear fuel, emphasizing the need for remote handling due to high radioactivity levels. A correction is made regarding the materials used in Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor (AGR) fuel cladding, clarifying that stainless steel is utilized instead of zirconium alloys. The conversation also touches on the negligence involved in nuclear operations, as noted in a referenced video. Overall, the thread provides insights into nuclear reactor technology and safety considerations.
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I didn't know much about this plant, intersting documentary.



About halfway through, I realized the narrator is Balin from The Hobbit movies. (Ken Stott)
 
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OK. Reading it once again I realized my mind must have skipped this word: "brobdingnagian".

: marked by tremendous size

EDIT: Heh.
 
Oh thanks. Whenever I hear that word, it repeats over & over in my mind, like a bubble-gum pop song from the '60's.
 
The video in the OP offers a fair assessment. There was a level of negligence involved.

Reprocessing nuclear fuel is complicated because it requires remote handling due to the high level of radioactivity of the Pu and recycled U. Then there is the waste (fission products).

sbrothy said:
Here's a short description of a personal tour of the nuclear reactor complex at Torness on the Scottish coast by one of my favorite authors.
One correction on the story, AGR fuel uses 20/25/Nb (20% Cr - 25% Ni - ~1% Nb stainless steel for the cladding, endplugs and grid. Zirconium alloys are not used.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876619616300778

https://info.westinghousenuclear.com/blog/the-art-of-innovation-westinghouse-agr-fuel
https://westinghousenuclear.com/uknuclear/products-services/advanced-gas-cooled-reactors/
 
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