Any mining operations using nuclear microreactors?

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dave1337Full Member
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#1Nov 18, 2019, 03:15 PM
The biggest mining farm in El Salvador runs on geothermal energy from volcanoes and contributes to a quarter of the country's hashpower. I'm curious if there are any mining facilities around the world that utilize nuclear microreactors.
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maxi2017Senior Member
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#2Nov 18, 2019, 07:14 PM
Who knows, maybe some tech billionaire out there is really building  a hidden underground facility powered by nuclear microreactor for a massive cryptocurrency mining operation.  It sounds wild, but these days, nothing seems too far-fetched! While using nuclear power for crypto mining raises some practical concerns around safety and cost-effectiveness I suppose if anyone had the means and motivation to try it, it would be an ultra-wealthy tech entrepreneur with more money than they know what to do with and  stranger things have happened in the world of crypto currencies and their enthusiasts, thats for sure. Hey, if Batman can build the Batcave under Wayne Manor then I wouldnt completely rule out the possibility of someone attempting a real-life supervillain lair to house their epic mining rig.  A nuclear reactor would certainly supply ample electricity! Whether or not it's sustainable or sensible is another question...
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dave1337Full Member
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#3Nov 18, 2019, 11:57 PM
There's already the cryptovault (in the Alps, I think it is).
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0xC0inFull Member
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#4Nov 19, 2019, 01:57 AM
Maybe sneak some onto an aircraft carrier?
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darkguruHero Member
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#5Nov 19, 2019, 02:45 AM
There are no existing micro-reactors operating in the world (yet). However at least 1 farm is powered by a conventional reactor https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/03/06/terawulf-starts-nuclear-powered-bitcoin-mining-with-nearly-8000k-rigs-at-nautilus-facility/ as forYou DO know that Batman is a fictional comic book character right? What said character can or cannot do has nothing to do with reality...
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SwiftOrbitSenior Member
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#6Nov 20, 2019, 01:38 AM
No it doesn't;t, and the reason it doesn't is because it doesn't exist! Even on their plans, the farm is only in the approval stage! Second, it's not "volcano" energy, its geothermal energy and bitcoin miners in Iceland were a thing before Bukele knew what Bitcoin was. Microreactors are below 20MW, which would mean at most 5000 Asics, given the actual hashrate there would be at least 6 million S19 running, so massive is not the word.
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maxi2017Senior Member
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#7Nov 20, 2019, 06:14 AM
Wow, I did not know that about microreactors!  YOu are right, 5,000 ASICs wouldnt qualify as "massive" these days.  Still, the image of a hidden tech lair powered by a mini nuclear reactor is pretty darn cool.  I wonder if these mini reactors will ever be like, shrunk down and idiot-proof enough for everyday folks to buy one and power their, you know, dream mansion/bitcoin mine (or maybe a post-apocalyptic shelter)?
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hodler2019Legendary
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#8Nov 20, 2019, 07:46 AM
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_microreactor so where can i buy a small one just 1mw that is 800 kwatts or maybe 270 s21s around 54000th or 54ph hook it up to a 20 foot box and whale away. not case no one is going to sell it to you. it could run up to 10 years before the fuel runs out
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SwiftOrbitSenior Member
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#9Nov 20, 2019, 08:16 AM
Cool might be but when it comes to the business side is quite impracticable. You're going to have your own grid basically, you have a slower than average baseload response, you need skilled maintenance, you need a specialized workforce, and for ...what really there than being cool? If you have the money you're better off buying land and having solar panels and then dealing with the storage large scale, battery, or hydrogen, it would be easier to hide than in plain sight. Teoterticaly there is only one truly active microreactor in existence, that if we believe what China says, so no luck with this.
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5wiftS4geHero Member
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#10Nov 20, 2019, 01:41 PM
I remember that the Soviet nuclear submarines that were built in the 1960s were designed to last more than 30 years without changing the fuel for the nuclear reactor. I don't know the electricity consumption of the submarine, but mining on such a submarine is possible Such technologies are owned by Russia,USA, China, France, Great Britain and India.
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dave1337Full Member
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#11Nov 20, 2019, 02:04 PM
Westinghouse makes a 3 MW eVinci microreactor for space and ground military applications.
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HumbleKingFull Member
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#12Nov 20, 2019, 07:53 PM
The late, great Batman was a wonderful man.
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kevinviperFull Member
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#13Nov 20, 2019, 09:55 PM
I can't post pictures yet, but here is some art I made depicting what I personally think our future will look like lol: https://ibb.co/sV1fNh1 There are 100% nuclear mining farms out there right now. An engineer told me that nuclear energy is the cleanest energy so... bitcoin = clean energy The people saying bitcoin is a waste of energy are literally lying to you. Very easy to spot demons out there..
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darkguruHero Member
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#14Nov 22, 2019, 10:12 PM
Google terawulf for the only nuclear powered large farm I've found out about. That reactor site is also home to a large data center and GPU/AI farm.
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