Zero carbon

In the future small nuclear reactors will be installed on site to service all types of industrial plants. These include steel and aluminum along with assembly plants for various products like autos and kitchen appliances. Each unit will be sized for the job at hand. These reactors will be combined with new gas powered turbines to produce low cost carbon free electric power. The units will owned and operated by the reactor manufacturer and the power will be sold on site to the user. This will eliminate the need for long transmission lines and save grid power for other uses such as charging stations for cars. These reactors will be build in a plant on an assembly line and transferred by semi truck to the use point. The will be small up to 100 Megawatt units that can be combined when the need for power increases. These reactors use no water and operate at room pressure so there is no safety concerns. They produce far less waste than conventional nuclear plants and can use up much of the existing stored waste. In time they will be used to manufacture hydrogen which will be used for transportation and replace electric cars. They will also be used to desalt sea water to irrigate desert areas and increase food production. Other units will be used to synthesize liquid fuels for airplanes and heavy equipment and they will use CO2 extracted from the air and returned to the air when burned for a net zero increased in CO2. In time most of the long cross country power lines will be replaced with these small units that will be placed closer to the use points. A small nuclear plant requires about 35 acres of land vs a standard nuclear plant that needs 500 acres. In the future there will be no need for windmills, solar panels and electric cars and the country will be at net zero for carbon.