The headline should probably be, “Meta invests in nuclear startup” and leave it there. My guess is this deal is quietly swept under the rug when the first reactor fails to go fully online by 2032.
And they have received NRC approval.
https://thebreakthrough.org/press/release-the-nrc-issues-con...
So not sure what additional regulatory hurdles you see. Can you enlighten us?
> TerraPower must still complete construction, submit an operating license application, and satisfy all applicable safety and regulatory requirements before loading fuel and beginning operations.
There used to be separate construction and operating permits, and sometimes you got the building permit, built the plant and then never got the operating license.
This has now been streamlined with a combined construction/operating license. If you built what you promised to build, you get to operate it.
The only recent nuclear buildouts that I personally have knowledge of are expansions to existing plants and thus have a lower barrier to get going.
I’m familiar with the reactors built on other previous ‘expedited’ processes that ended up being anything but fast. We’ll see how it goes eh?
Superphenix in France (1973-1998) and Monju in Japan (1994-1995, 2010-2016) have both had significant technical challenges. The Soviets built have some sodium reactors.
I used to be very for a PRISM style reactor like TerraPower is working for, especially with something like Integral Fast Reactor's on-site non-proliferation-safe pyroprocessing. But man, over the years, I just appreciate more and more how hard it is to build and maintain well. I'm both rooting for TerraPower, but also, it low key feels like an "if not when" situation, that this an incredibly energetic unsafe system to be dealing with, and it seems hard to imagine this being a safe long term cost effective solution. I hope the inspections are very very for real, very in depth, very detailed, given the scope of what is being built. It's not even a big reactor! But that much very high temperature sodium going around, right by a big nuclear reactor (smartly TerraPower has separate nuclear and energy "wings), is deeply concerning, and needs incredibly detailed inspections if this is to provide the lasting safe value it is purporting to deliver.
I like the idea of a network of thorium reactors. I don't want to see any part of that network owned or controlled by people that we already know place their own selfish interests above everything else.
Therefore I guess I am suggesting that high net worth individuals should be prohibited from all investments in or operations involving weapons production.
Maybe I just don't trust that guy and think that he would gladly offload the responsibility of waste disposal or processing on anyone in a backroom deal that we don't learn about until he has been providing materials to refine and construct weapons to individuals who will gladly employ them in attacks.
I'm not paranoid, I just hate assholes.
If anything, nuclear tends to be much more strictly regulated than the 73 GW (wtf) of off-grid mostly gas plants to power datacenters for example.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/fast-tracked-power-p...
Yes, I'm also for solar, and wind, and geothermal, and nat gas, and way out there fusion. It's hard to exaggerate how much cheap, abundant, reliable energy helps civilization.
Then they generate unique copy and images for each user (or hyper-targeted bucket of users), tailored to what would make them click. All continuously A/B tested.
They probably want to better target ads and generate outrage slop with AI. That was always the plan: spy on people, make them unhappy, sell ads and maybe also provide the means to scoundrels to scam the elderly in the process.
The wording there implies some upfront money from Meta, and that this isn’t just a PPA like we normally see.
But with no numbers attached it’s hard to know if it’s a serious investment or just PR fluff.
Given that they haven’t actually built one, asserting the performance seems inappropriate, _especially_ the uptime which IIRC is far, far higher than is typical for proven designs, let alone a new one.
And even if a reactor goes offline, a power plant usually operates 2 to 4 reactors, so the entire plant continues operating.
Financial press saying they are exploring all means of raising large sums of money for AI investment
Also rumours Meta is going to start a Cloud business.
I was hoping the Thorium molten salt ones with atmospheric pressure vessels would pick up pace thanks to this boom in power demand or Helion would arrive on the scene right on time for this.
For energy storage, is it storing the hot water, or using batteries to store generated electricity?
Discussion on this and related Meta nuclear moves at the time:
Meta announces nuclear energy projects
[0] https://c.tenor.com/wuKJbik2LcEAAAAM/anchorman-ron-burgundy....
But it is a very real concern that there seems to be a total lack of technology investment and innovation across Europe.
I wouldn’t be concerned, because this is obviously false.
Because why somebody else should bear the risk of a nuclear disaster.
This is nonsense. State/society is the last backstop, the last resort insurer in nuclear risk. Why shall we insure nuclear risks so Mark gets richer with more clicks ? again socializing the costs and privatizing de profits.
Not in my backyard.
(Disclaimer: most of my life I lived closer than 50 miles to various major nuclear plants.)
