Energy intensive industrial sites in off-grid locations

Energy intensive industrial sites in off-grid locations 

A market niche for nuclear power plants with small reactors without on-site refuelling could also be that of off-grid industrial applications, supporting the energy intensive processes which harvest and add value to natural resources. Two needs would arise in respect of this, which are supporting the work camp population and supplying power for the industrial operation. 

for supporting the work camp population, the requirement is for only a few MW(e) of power and often may include cogeneration of district heat or seawater desalination (see Fig. 8). 

Industrial needs are in the same range or somewhat larger. A survey of power requirements for mining operations in the Yukon Province of Canada (see Table 1) shows individual plants in support of the mining/milling industrial operations should be sized from 3 to 10 MW(e). Alternately, the electric power demand for milling can be as much as several hundred MW(e), and in those cases, the industrial demand vastly exceeds population support needs. 

Mine Distance FROM GRID (KM) Mine LFETIME (YEARS) Power required, MW(e) Employment (staff) 

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