NationStates Jolt Archive

Madnestan is building up her industry. That requires electricity. To get that, we need power stations. Since we have several higly producive uranium mines and and since we are lacking coal, don't have enough oil and want to save the nature from pollution, we have come to conclusion that nuclear powerplants would be ideal for us. We have already thought about where to throw the waste and looked a sufficient mountain in which the waste can be burried.

So far, all good. Only problem is, we don't have technology neede for such a project. Therefore we request othe nations (nations rather than companies, if possible) to sell their expert knowledge on the subject. We have thought about something like 7 major powerplants, covering about 80% of our need. This is just a approximation,a nd can be discussed.

All nations with the needed capabilities are free to announce their offers.

Ministery of Industry
Armed Republic of Madnestan

If you are FT, then we can supply you with Cold Fusion reactors, and in a few months time the hydrogen fuel for them.

Dear Madnestan, i can provide scientists, and several uranium cores that were used in my old nuclear missiles. I will also donate 75 million dollars for the project.

Justin Scarfe, president, Willink

This aid from generous government and people of Willink is most welcome and shall, that we can promise, not be forgotten. Planning of the very first power plant will be started as soon as your scientist's arrive. Still, further offers are taken under consideration as more plants is needed.

OOC: i have no clue how much power plan like that would cost, neither what kind of stuff nor technology it recuires. That's the reason number 2 I started this thread for, I need help in OOC too on how to RP this conversation :D .
Basically, you people can sell me anything as I don't know what to expect, and therefore would like to hear more proposals and suggestions so that I wouldn't get cheated too badly. If anyone knows anything about nuclear power, please do not hesitate to post in OOC, even if you aren't about to do any business.

And no Tannemille, im MT.

Here is a ton of info on nuclear power;




Introduction

Nuclear power is generated using Uranium, which is a metal mined in various parts of the world.

The first large-scale nuclear power station opened at Calder Hall in Cumbria, England, in 1956.

Some military ships and submarines have nuclear power plants for engines.


Nuclear power produces around 11% of the world's energy needs, and produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel, without the pollution that you'd get from burning fossil fuels.


How they work



Nuclear power stations work in pretty much the same way as fossil fuel-burning stations, except that a "chain reaction" inside a nuclear reactor makes the heat instead.


The reactor uses Uranium rods as fuel, and the heat is generated by nuclear fission. Neutrons smash into the nucleus of the uranium atoms, which split roughly in half and release energy in the form of heat.


Carbon dioxide gas is pumped through the reactor to take the heat away, and the hot gas then heats water to make steam.


The steam drives turbines which drive generators.
Modern nuclear power stations use the same type of turbines and generators as conventional power stations.


In Britain, nuclear power stations are built on the coast, and use sea water for cooling the steam ready to be pumped round again. This means that they don't have the huge "cooling towers" seen at other power stations.

The reactor is controlled with "control rods", made of boron, which absorb neutrons. When the rods are lowered into the reactor, they absorb more neutrons and the fission process slows down. To generate more power, the rods are raised and more neutrons can crash into uranium atoms.

More details


Natural uranium is only 0.7% "uranium-235", which is the type of uranium that undergoes fission in this type of reactor.
The rest is U-238, which just sits there getting in the way.
Modern reactors use "enriched" uranium fuel, which has a higher proportion of U-235.

The fuel arrives encased in metal tubes, which are lowered into the reactor whilst it's running, using a special crane sealed onto the top of the reactor.


Carbon dioxide gas is blown through the reactor to carry the heat away. Carbon dioxide is chosen because it stops the reactor catching fire (it's around 600 degrees Celsius in there) and it doesn't turn into anything nasty when it's bombarded with neutrons.
You have to be very careful about the materials you use to build reactors - some materials will turn into horrible things in that environment.

Uranium itself isn't particularly radioactive, so when the fuel rods arrive at the power station they can be handled using thin plastic gloves. A rod can last for several years before it needs replacing.
It's when the "spent" fuel rods are taken out of the reactor that you need the full remote-control robot arms and Homer Simpson equipment.

Nuclear power stations are not atomic bombs waiting to go off, and are not prone to "meltdowns".
There is a lot of U-238 in there slowing things down - you need a high concentration of U-235 to make a bomb.
If the reactor gets too hot, the control rods are lowered in and it cools down.
If that doesn't work, there are sets of emergency control rods that automatically drop in and shut the reactor down completely.

With reactors in this country, the engineers cannot stop the emergency systems from shutting it down if things get out of hand - although at Chernobyl, in Ukraine, they turned off this automatic system to try something out, got it wrong, and the whole thing overheated, melted and blew up before they could stop it.

If something does go wrong in a really big way, much of the world could be affected - some radioactive dust (called "fallout") from the Chernobyl accident landed in the UK.

With AGR reactors (the most common type in Britain) there are additional safety systems, such as flooding the reactor with nitrogen and/or water to absorb all the neutrons - although the water option means that reactor can never be restarted.


Advantages-


Nuclear power costs about the same as coal, so it's not expensive to make.


Does not produce smoke or carbon dioxide, so it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.


Produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel.


Produces small amounts of waste.


Nuclear power is reliable.




Disadvantages;

Although not much waste is produced, it is very, very dangerous.
It must be sealed up and buried for many years to allow the radioactivity to die away.


Nuclear power is reliable, but a lot of money has to be spent on safety - if it does go wrong, a nuclear accident can be a major disaster. poeple are increasingly concerned about this - in the 1990's nuclear power was the fastest-growing source of power in much of the world. Now, in 2005 it's the second slowest-growing.






The cost themselves, is anywere from 14 million for a small plant to 200 million for a huge one. the fuel to run them is expensive, costing anywere from 20 million to 100 million.

Hope this helps, :)

The government of the Incorporated States of Tom Joad is willing to assist Madnestan in constructing nuclear power plants for the purposes of power generation. We propose the construction of CANDU reactors within Madnestan, the primary reason we suggest this form of reactor instead of others is due to its ability to operate without require enriched uranium, thus avoiding expensive facilities and certain difficulties in acquiring the material.

This form of reactor also is one of the most efficient known, it has less down time than other methods and is capable of being refuelled whilst operations continue. Although considerable investment is required for the reactor to become operational, one of the larger requirements being heavy water of the purest quality however despite this large investment up front the design makes up for it by being cheaper to operate in the short-term and then in the long term. Tritium can be separated from the moderator, then sold on to medical market or other markets. Another possibility is to use surplus power generated to operate a small deuterium separation plant, this would upgrade your heavy water inventory and reduce costs further.

Overall the CANDU reactor is your best option, it is one of the safest, simplest to operate and most efficient, economically, reactors available. As this is nuclear technology we would need to be heavily involved with personnel during all phases of construction and initial operation, we would also wish to conduct subsequent inspections of the plant, primarily to be certain our investment is operation sufficiently and also to allay the fears and concerns of a minority.

Foreign Commissary of Tom Joad

OOC: As for further information I'd suggest you check out Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Nuclear_technology) .

OOC: Willink, ya could have just post the link dude :D .
But yeah, thank's a lot, now I have some kind of idea how it works.
I think I'll preferr larger ones. Consentration is the way of the dictators, and "Big is always better than small", as the Madnestanian saying goes.

Tom Joad, your proposal has been taken under consideration.
We shall answer after few more offers have been heard, if possible.
Thank you for your help.

Ministery of Industry
Armed Republic of Madnestan

Bedtime, just one small BUMP to get something to read when I wake up :) .

Is this all? No more offers?

One last BUMP.

Our offer does have a limit of availability, only so many offers of foreign investment can be made at one time and if necessary we will be simply forced to invest elsewhere.

- Foreign Commissary

OOC: I kinda hoped a competition in form of some 5 offers, or something, but guess it cant be helped...lets just RP like there had been some, and that my guys actully know what they are buying, k?

IC: Ok, Tom Joad. Your offer has been accepted. 9 Large CANDU-based nuclear power plants shall be built. Your engineers are welcome to our country, whenever they're ready.

The Ministery of Industry
Armed Republic of Madnestan

[OOC: I can understand that but I guess nuclear reactors just aren’t exciting enough.]

We are most glad that Madnestan has decided to select our personnel to construct their reactors, we will be using local materials and companies as long as they meet the requirements in terms of quality and competence, Joadian engineers will be involved extensively to begin however our physical presence in construction will decline as the last of the reactors are constructed. Our estimates put the costs initially at two-hundred-fifty million per plant, we expect this cost to decline if entirely local materials are used, minus the heavy water, coupled with the scale of construction.

In terms of a timeline between four and six years is expected for complete construction, safety check and initial fuelling of the first plant, with construction of the second and third beginning after two and three years, respectively, and subsequent plants construction begun between two and three years afterwards. This project will require long-term investment, a high level of personnel training and depending on your populace an extensive campaign pointing out some simple facts regarding nuclear power.

As part of construction we will also offer selected personnel from your nation to attend our courses to enable them to be technically qualified to perform various functions in the plants, initially we would like to keep the proportion of Joadian staff operating the completed plants at a higher level to natives this would be to ensure new staff can adjust with experienced guidance close at hand.

In regards to payment, the ISTJ will require a twenty percent deposit of the total cost for the first two plants within the year and further deposits of fifteen percent annually until completion of all reactors is achieved.

Foreign Commissary of Tom Joad - Madnestan Sector
Operator Ramon Silvanto

Emperor Offa Condems the use of Nuclear power and instead offers you 36 million Drudkhs and a team of our best engineers to create wind-turbines just off your coast, we advise you to think this over carefully as it is far less likely to cause subversive thoughts amongst your populace

OOC: Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. If the title had been "Madnestan needs a pair of boots for a marine who wants to have pink ones"
would have gained a mass of replies and links to storefronts... :(
Military trading is represented more than needed, so I thought there would be people interrested about something else, but seems like we are the only ones...

IC: Your terms are accepted. Most promising and talented of our young scientist's are beeing sent to have aducation about nuclear technology. Workers for the prohject are beeing selected and somehow trained, too.
Thank you for your help on this matter, and let our relations stay close in the world of trade.

Sincerely yours,

Ministery of Trade
Armed Republic of Madnestan

As an addendum each reactor will generate approximately 700-750 MWe, we also thought it might be on interest to yourselves to know that the nuclear material from warheads can be used in these plants, after which the material is useless for weapons and could be a useful method of recouping your capital investment. We have also refined our initial assessment, the final four plants we estimate could be completed in three years maximum, the reason for the more lengthy timeframes for the initial plants is primarily due to the complete naivety of your industry in constructing nuclear facilities.

To Emperor Offa we simple point out that the paranoia surrounding nuclear power is highly unfounded and it is a far more efficient generator of electricity than wind-turbines not that such facilities do not have a place, just that there is not in primary energy generation for an entire nation.

We are most pleased you have accepted, have no doubts that the Incorporated States of Tom Joad intends to stand by its investment well into the future. Hopefully we can continue on future projects as they arise.

Foreign Commissary of Tom Joad - Madnestan Sector
Operator Ramon Silvanto