Ep 16: Don Wolf, Advanced Reactor Concepts

Episode Content:

• The ARC origen story through resurrection of a decades old nuclear prototype EBR-2

• A technical discussion on "closing the fuel cycle", "breeding", "electrochemical refining"

• The advantages of ARC from a Waste, Cost, Safety and matching market conditions

• A discussion of sodium and "pool type" vs "loop type" design

• A discussion of metallic uranium fuel vs uranium oxide

• Negative reactivity feedback characteristics enabled by neutron leakage

• Historical examples of this style reactor's inherent safety features

• A quick comparison of the four metal fuel designs ARC, PRISM, OKLO, and TERRAPOWER

• Nuclear economics and how to balance economies of scale vs diseconomies of scale

• Advantages of the Canadian Licensing Regime: 2 stages & risk-based approach