Their first demonstration reactor is scheduled to go online in 2031. But they’re going to build 8 production reactors, with all the regulatory hurdles, in any reasonable length of time? Right.
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.
> TerraPower must still complete construction, submit an operating license application, and satisfy all applicable safety and regulatory requirements before loading fuel and beginning operations.
I mean that doesn't sound like very big hurdles. It is an inspection of a completed reactor to make sure it wasn't managed and built like trash. Every factory and business and powerplant is subject to an inspection before it can operate. Even most residentual homes require an inspection before people can live in it.
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.
That's the permit/approval for the pilot/test, right? There are about a million approvals they need to get through. Are they using the DoE fast tracking method?
Didn't the Trump admin put in the same lawyer who helped Uber to "reform" the NRC? I can't find the Bloomberg article but they made it sound like they were going to gut the NRC. To be clear I am not endorsing this, but I read that was happening or they were at least trying.
> Under this commercial agreement, Meta will provide funding to support the deployment of the Natrium plants, with delivery of initial units as early as 2032
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.
Does anyone understand how Meta is able to spend so much money on AI with basically no AI product to speak of? Especially after sinking billions of dollars into a failed VR product? I just don't really understand why they are investing in data centers, I don't know of any actual product they offer that anyone is seriously considering using in the space.
There are many uses for AI other than selling API/chat access. For Meta it can be for example use internally as a software tool, in the same way that they have their own datacenters instead of running on AWS. They can also use them to power recommendation algorithms to increase time on platform. Or they can use them to better target adverts and thus increase the revenue from ads. They can also use them to help people make ads on their platforms etc....
Because Zuckerberg is the king and has complete control, but Meta is so far behind in this so-called AI model race it will be canceled quietly. It will just be but a footnote in about 2 to 3 years.
The market forgives misadventures cause Meta is still solvent and they make money YoY. Additionally, they are developing heavily in the AI space with making Llama available to the public and all the AI integrations into their products.
Imagine buying ad space on their platforms, but instead of writing copy and providing images, you simply give it your website.
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.
I think it is a bad idea to allow Meta to participate in nuclear reactor operations. Nuclear reactors and other power infrastructure should be utility-owned and managed under clear regulations designed to eliminate the possibility of control by outside interests who might, or would, be tempted to unload byproducts suitable for production of weapons to anyone who had the money to buy them. They should be prohibited from spinning off any part of their operations into weapons development and prohibited from investing in any entity that is involved in weapons production.
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 mean, didn't we give the government and the public long enough to prove they could provide abundant, cheap nuclear? They were so closed in the 60/70s and have since failed miserably and everyone has suffered for it. Cheap, abundant energy is good for humanity. If a private company accelerates it, I'm here for it.
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.
> The eight 345 MW advanced sodium cooled reactors would provide Meta with up to 2.8 GW of carbon-free, baseload energy. Each reactor comes with the Natrium technology’s innovative built-in energy storage system providing the capacity to boost total output to 4 GW of power.
For energy storage, is it storing the hot water, or using batteries to store generated electricity?
> A dual Natrium reactor site can provide 690 MW of reliable 24/7 365 power
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.
This is a brand new type, there's no way that equivalent operation to a decades old design with centuries of operational experience can be assumed. Presumably its been designed for high uptime but it would not be unusual for new technology like this to require some refinement.
Yes. The refueling takes the most time but that is planned years in advance. A one-year planned outage every decade can still be 24/7/365 in the other nine years.
The name makes me think it is a molten salt reactor, but it uses liquid sodium. Still aptly named.
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.
When I read this I am more convinced that Europe is done. With leaders like Kaja Kallis, Rutte and Ursula it's so blatantly visible that these people can't think further than one minute. It's really time for a breakup so countries are no longer chained to insanity. They are destroying themselves.
yes, and hopefully all of them will be set up in his garden and his children kindergarten.
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.
Maybe you're right. Maybe we should just continue to burn coal and let people die of black lung mining it and millions of people living in the pollution zone. Safe, clean energy is overrated.
Their first demonstration reactor is scheduled to go online in 2031. But they’re going to build 8 production reactors, with all the regulatory hurdles, in any reasonable length of time? Right.
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.
While Wyoming is a demonstration plant, it is a demonstration plant of exactly the reactor they plan to build in series.
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?
From your link,
> TerraPower must still complete construction, submit an operating license application, and satisfy all applicable safety and regulatory requirements before loading fuel and beginning operations.
Basically the built plant must pass a rigorous inspection before starting operations. But for that the plant needs to be built!
And built well, which has been a source of big delays in the past.
I mean that doesn't sound like very big hurdles. It is an inspection of a completed reactor to make sure it wasn't managed and built like trash. Every factory and business and powerplant is subject to an inspection before it can operate. Even most residentual homes require an inspection before people can live in it.
It is what typically all reactors get stuck on for years - or often decades.
I doubt it.
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.
That's the permit/approval for the pilot/test, right? There are about a million approvals they need to get through. Are they using the DoE fast tracking method?
It will be quietly canceled in about two years….
Didn't the Trump admin put in the same lawyer who helped Uber to "reform" the NRC? I can't find the Bloomberg article but they made it sound like they were going to gut the NRC. To be clear I am not endorsing this, but I read that was happening or they were at least trying.
> Under this commercial agreement, Meta will provide funding to support the deployment of the Natrium plants, with delivery of initial units as early as 2032
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.
Even if this flops, it's still better to lose money on this than the Metaverse.
Does anyone understand how Meta is able to spend so much money on AI with basically no AI product to speak of? Especially after sinking billions of dollars into a failed VR product? I just don't really understand why they are investing in data centers, I don't know of any actual product they offer that anyone is seriously considering using in the space.
There are many uses for AI other than selling API/chat access. For Meta it can be for example use internally as a software tool, in the same way that they have their own datacenters instead of running on AWS. They can also use them to power recommendation algorithms to increase time on platform. Or they can use them to better target adverts and thus increase the revenue from ads. They can also use them to help people make ads on their platforms etc....
Because Zuckerberg is the king and has complete control, but Meta is so far behind in this so-called AI model race it will be canceled quietly. It will just be but a footnote in about 2 to 3 years.
The market forgives misadventures cause Meta is still solvent and they make money YoY. Additionally, they are developing heavily in the AI space with making Llama available to the public and all the AI integrations into their products.
Internal use to watch everything and control everything
Imagine buying ad space on their platforms, but instead of writing copy and providing images, you simply give it your website.
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 are using the same infinite money glitch as Google - ads revenue.
They will sell the capacity to others. And building data centers let's them leverage local tax advantages/incentives.
I think it is a bad idea to allow Meta to participate in nuclear reactor operations. Nuclear reactors and other power infrastructure should be utility-owned and managed under clear regulations designed to eliminate the possibility of control by outside interests who might, or would, be tempted to unload byproducts suitable for production of weapons to anyone who had the money to buy them. They should be prohibited from spinning off any part of their operations into weapons development and prohibited from investing in any entity that is involved in weapons production.
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.
I mean, didn't we give the government and the public long enough to prove they could provide abundant, cheap nuclear? They were so closed in the 60/70s and have since failed miserably and everyone has suffered for it. Cheap, abundant energy is good for humanity. If a private company accelerates it, I'm here for it.
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.
> The eight 345 MW advanced sodium cooled reactors would provide Meta with up to 2.8 GW of carbon-free, baseload energy. Each reactor comes with the Natrium technology’s innovative built-in energy storage system providing the capacity to boost total output to 4 GW of power.
For energy storage, is it storing the hot water, or using batteries to store generated electricity?
Sodium cooled. They will store heat in a big thermos of molten salt.
Hence, natrium.
> A dual Natrium reactor site can provide 690 MW of reliable 24/7 365 power
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.
Well operated, mature nuclear power plants can easily achieve 90%+ uptime. I don’t think this is a huge issue.
This is a brand new type, there's no way that equivalent operation to a decades old design with centuries of operational experience can be assumed. Presumably its been designed for high uptime but it would not be unusual for new technology like this to require some refinement.
In fact, the uptime of US nuclear power plants was above 90% for the last decade.
And even if a reactor goes offline, a power plant usually operates 2 to 4 reactors, so the entire plant continues operating.
Unless they hire Homer Simpson.....
Is 90% equal to 24x7, 365?
Yes. The refueling takes the most time but that is planned years in advance. A one-year planned outage every decade can still be 24/7/365 in the other nine years.
Natrium is expected to spend around 1 month refueling every 24 months.
So that is say 5% downtime. Add in time for upgrades and refurbishments, and refueling periods alone are bang on the 10% downtime number.
Ah yes, the ol' GitHub method of reporting. "When we're up, we have lots of nines!"
Capex bubble anyone?
Meta should be a good buy somewhere in $150-$200 area. I guess.
The name makes me think it is a molten salt reactor, but it uses liquid sodium. Still aptly named.
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.
It is a molten salt reactor, just not a molten salt thorium reactor.
Sad for Meta it will be obsolete by the time it’s theoreticallyput online which I doubt will ever happen.
Sodium (without chlorine or similar) is a metal, not a salt.
They plan to use molten salt for energy storage, but the reactor itself is liquid metal cooled.
Thorium reactors are the future, safest possible
PBS Space Time explainer
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElulEJruhRQ
So what? The tech doesn't work well and the contractors have no knowledge of government contracting.
News from January OP;
Discussion on this and related Meta nuclear moves at the time:
Meta announces nuclear energy projects
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46578497
> I don't believe you.[0]
[0] https://c.tenor.com/wuKJbik2LcEAAAAM/anchorman-ron-burgundy....
When I read this I am more convinced that Europe is done. With leaders like Kaja Kallis, Rutte and Ursula it's so blatantly visible that these people can't think further than one minute. It's really time for a breakup so countries are no longer chained to insanity. They are destroying themselves.
Ursula Vonderleyenska is not real and can not harm you
It seems Europe is living rent free in your head, maybe you should talk to a shrink.
I think that person is in the EU and certainly not living rent free!
But it is a very real concern that there seems to be a total lack of technology investment and innovation across Europe.
> 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.
yes, and hopefully all of them will be set up in his garden and his children kindergarten.
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.
This kind of reactor is really hard to blow up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten-salt_reactor#Properties
(Disclaimer: most of my life I lived closer than 50 miles to various major nuclear plants.)
Maybe you're right. Maybe we should just continue to burn coal and let people die of black lung mining it and millions of people living in the pollution zone. Safe, clean energy is overrated.