If Nuclear was committed to, would the number of these heavy forge presses likely go up, and costs come down?
I have no idea, but it does seem that if there are bottlenecks in the process, demand for nuclear could bring costs come down dramatically. Am I missing something here?
Those heavy presses themselves seem to be nation-state level engineering projects, so it's unlikely that anyone would build more of them than they absolutely need.
Or well, maybe costs wouldn't come down that much, since AFAIK press forging is a pretty mature technology.
I'm just saying a heavy press forge is a major infrastructure project on its own, and it won't just happen by snapping our fingers. It will take time.
Then there's the question of whether it makes sense to embark on a major buildout of current style large light water reactors? If the market shifts towards smaller modular reactors (SMR's), then for light water SMR's smaller forges would likely do. Or further in the future non-water low pressure designs.
My opinion is that given the urgency of addressing climate change, coal pollution etc., yes we should embark on a major buildout of currently available reactor types, while also massively increasing advanced reactor R&D&commercialization funding.
I have no idea, but it does seem that if there are bottlenecks in the process, demand for nuclear could bring costs come down dramatically. Am I missing something here?