In 2016, the movie "Pandora" was released in South Korea. The main theme of this movie was the accident of a nuclear power plant. Although it was not chosen as a box office hit, it gave people awareness about a nuclear power plant's problem. Nowadays, electricity rules our society. It is mostly generated by coal and nuclear energy. However, it is the main reason for the occurrence of environmental issues. So, many countries try to develop energy that does not affect our environment. Also, one solution is the fourth nuclear reactor.

▲ This is Chernobyl, which has become a ghost town since the nuclear power plant accident.

The fourth nuclear reactor is the next generation of nuclear reactors that have been proposed for practical use in 2030. The main purpose of it is higher economic growth, safety, low radioactive waste, and nuclear proliferation resistance than the third nuclear reactor. There are six kinds of reactors, and I will introduce one.

One of the fourth nuclear reactors is a Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor.

▲ Sodium, also called natrium, is an element of atomic number 11.

It is a reactor that uses Sodium as a coolant. This reactor's advantage is the high efficiency of Uranium using. When we mine Uranium, there is three isotope uranium such as uranium 234, 235, and 238. A normal reactor uses uranium 235 to make energy. However, it is just 0.5 percent of entire uranium. The Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor uses uranium 238, and it is almost 99 percent of all. Also, uranium 238 can be reused. We can get it from spent fuel from nuclear power plants. According to research, up to 95 percent of nuclear fuel can be less spent than normal nuclear power plants. However, the Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor has some problems, too. It is too expensive to build it. To build a prototype of it, more than four trillion won was used. The other problem is safety. Sodium is a metallic element and very reactive. When it contacts with water, it released a huge amount of light and energy. Extremely, it can explode. It is a fatal problem.

Because of the accelerating environmental problem, developing new energy sources becomes very important. Also, South Korea has tried to develop it since 2012. The Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor has many advantages, but some fatal flaws exist. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft said that it has great potential, and it will be a global trend. I agree with him. I hope the Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor will lead us to the green earth.

June 12th, 2021

by Ju Yup Je