Dammit, why can't they work on something important
like Facebook apps? </sarcasm>
Nuclear supercomputer boffins in the States say they are unleashing the mighty power of the "Jaguar" - number one arse-kickingest computer in the world - to design the next generation of nuclear reactors, including the ITER fusion project. John Wagner, Technical Integration Manager for Nuclear Modelling at the Oak Ridge …
Wagner and Evans are chuffed to announce that they have been awarded eight million processor hours on Jaguar for the purpose of running Denovo to develop a "uniquely detailed simulation of the power distribution inside a nuclear reactor core". This is expected to cut years off the process of designing new and better reactors.
8 000 000 hours / 224 000 processors = 35.7142857 hours total
unless I'm missing something?
so the first ITER is expected to be of use in 2050?
i'll be in my 70s by then
and that's just the first one, in France, so by the time we then get around to building one here in the uk i'll have popped my clogs and will never know what it's like to live in a world where energy is free and the only worry is the occasional panic when the containment field breaks down and rolling ball of fusion breaks loose and melts down a city
this Jaguar had better cut an awful lot of years of the R&D - i don't want to still be paying for petrol during my 40s damnit!
The "latest and greatest" nuclear plant designs coming out of Westinghouse is the AP1000.
http://www.ap1000.westinghousenuclear.com/
The first 4 of these are going to China
http://westinghousenuclear.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=200
and construction has only just started with first power-up slated for 2013.
http://nuclearstreet.com/blogs/nuclear_power_news/archive/tags/AP1000/default.aspx
Two in the United Stated are planned for construction in the state of Georgia
On August 15, 2006, Southern Nuclear formally applied for an Early Site Permit (ESP) for two additional units. The ESP will determine whether the site is appropriate for additional reactors, and this process is separate from the Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) Application process.[10] On March 31, 2008, Southern Nuclear announced that it had submitted an application for a COL, a process which will take at least 3 to 4 years.[11] On April 9, 2008, Georgia Power Company reached a contract agreement for two AP1000 reactors designed by Westinghouse (owned by Toshiba) and the Shaw Group (Baton Rouge, LA).[12] The contract represents the first agreement for new nuclear development since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, and received approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) on March 17, 2009.[13] As stated by a Georgia Power spokesperson Carol Boatright: "If the PSC approves, we are going forward with the new units."[
But red tape appears to be rearing its ugly head:
http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/Georgia-Court-PSC-Certification-of-Vogtle-Reactors-Is-Illegal_2684.html
New nuclear power generation in the United States - 2017 if you read the above article.