The nuclear renaissance is real and accelerating. If Noah could find the time for such a write up that would be really helpful as it relates to Canadian developments in the space and some commentary on the realistic potential for some of these new reactor designs. Not to mention the funding requirements that would be needed to actually field such designs. And no…injections of $20 million here and there is a start but that ain’t gonna get us there. Perhaps Korean collaboration on a naval hybrid propulsion system involving solid state batteries / next-gen reactor with Slowpoke lineage like CSMC’s polar-1. Of course that would require a decade of maniacally committed development and a significant increase in output(Kw) to be feasible. What are the scaling limits of a Slowpoke reactor? This would serve to bring us closer to the Koreans as technology partners on a cutting edge foundational defence project but also potentially give us some insight into their low-enriched reactor design for their nascent nuclear sub program. Nothing focuses the national psyche like an ambitious defence project with a strategic partner and a demanding timeline.
Ok enough of my blathering/wild conjecture…..great suggestion thou Harry.
For anyone interested a quick shallow dive into slowpoke research yielded an academic paper about a hypothetical reference design for an organic compound(vs light water) slowpoke reactor with a 1 Mw output. 164 pages and very technical so not exactly an easy read for a layman. So many variables but does sound like there is potential there albeit complicated by many factors(containment vessel size, materials, cooling medium used, etc) even thou the slowpoke is a dead simple & inherently safe design by nuclear standards.
A little further digging reveals that I’m an idiot. Noah already alluded to CSMC technology being based on Slowpoke 2 (updated previous post). In fact it’s a direct licence with Canadian Nuclear Labs(CNL) and is the first serious attempt to commercialize the technology. It looks like it is based on the organic compound moderator(vs light water) that I referenced above with a modified/updated reactor design with a very aggressive development timeline hoping to field the 1 Mw class Polar-1 by 2030. I expect CSMC will require several funding rounds as they move towards commercialization. So many applications if this succeeds and scales as expected. So hyped to see where this goes.
I totally agree with you Noah, our SMR technology was ahead of its time and the Slowpoke II specifically had so much potential but lacked the urgency & interest to continue its development and was left to wither on the vine. Well that was then and this is now….and now is the time to get back on track with this homegrown technology. And I mean real predictable funding married to clear objectives that allow our nuclear industry to move with a sense of purpose. Imagine if we were able solve the Slowpokes shortcomings and produce a scalable design with a best in class safety profile and the lowest cost. Ambitious yes but the applications are endless. Thinking submarines with batteries charged by a next gen Slowpoke type reactor allowing virtually unlimited range. Same for other types of naval vessels. Lots of hurdles to overcome but boy oh boy that would be something. So I am 100% behind CSMC continuing to develop their designs and hope they deliver something that really puts Canada in the game. Nuclear is one area where we actually have some real chops. Assuming of course that ai super intelligence doesn’t wipe us all out first. 🤔
You may have to do a write up of the Canadian history of Slowpoke and how it relates to currently developing technology.
The nuclear renaissance is real and accelerating. If Noah could find the time for such a write up that would be really helpful as it relates to Canadian developments in the space and some commentary on the realistic potential for some of these new reactor designs. Not to mention the funding requirements that would be needed to actually field such designs. And no…injections of $20 million here and there is a start but that ain’t gonna get us there. Perhaps Korean collaboration on a naval hybrid propulsion system involving solid state batteries / next-gen reactor with Slowpoke lineage like CSMC’s polar-1. Of course that would require a decade of maniacally committed development and a significant increase in output(Kw) to be feasible. What are the scaling limits of a Slowpoke reactor? This would serve to bring us closer to the Koreans as technology partners on a cutting edge foundational defence project but also potentially give us some insight into their low-enriched reactor design for their nascent nuclear sub program. Nothing focuses the national psyche like an ambitious defence project with a strategic partner and a demanding timeline.
Ok enough of my blathering/wild conjecture…..great suggestion thou Harry.
For anyone interested a quick shallow dive into slowpoke research yielded an academic paper about a hypothetical reference design for an organic compound(vs light water) slowpoke reactor with a 1 Mw output. 164 pages and very technical so not exactly an easy read for a layman. So many variables but does sound like there is potential there albeit complicated by many factors(containment vessel size, materials, cooling medium used, etc) even thou the slowpoke is a dead simple & inherently safe design by nuclear standards.
A little further digging reveals that I’m an idiot. Noah already alluded to CSMC technology being based on Slowpoke 2 (updated previous post). In fact it’s a direct licence with Canadian Nuclear Labs(CNL) and is the first serious attempt to commercialize the technology. It looks like it is based on the organic compound moderator(vs light water) that I referenced above with a modified/updated reactor design with a very aggressive development timeline hoping to field the 1 Mw class Polar-1 by 2030. I expect CSMC will require several funding rounds as they move towards commercialization. So many applications if this succeeds and scales as expected. So hyped to see where this goes.
I totally agree with you Noah, our SMR technology was ahead of its time and the Slowpoke II specifically had so much potential but lacked the urgency & interest to continue its development and was left to wither on the vine. Well that was then and this is now….and now is the time to get back on track with this homegrown technology. And I mean real predictable funding married to clear objectives that allow our nuclear industry to move with a sense of purpose. Imagine if we were able solve the Slowpokes shortcomings and produce a scalable design with a best in class safety profile and the lowest cost. Ambitious yes but the applications are endless. Thinking submarines with batteries charged by a next gen Slowpoke type reactor allowing virtually unlimited range. Same for other types of naval vessels. Lots of hurdles to overcome but boy oh boy that would be something. So I am 100% behind CSMC continuing to develop their designs and hope they deliver something that really puts Canada in the game. Nuclear is one area where we actually have some real chops. Assuming of course that ai super intelligence doesn’t wipe us all out first. 🤔