>In the movie "Red October", the Capt Tupolev ordered the reactor to operate at 105% power. The engineer said "It's possible, but not recommended Captain". I always thought that was funny.
That's referring to 100% of the rated capacity of that particular reactor, not the actual possible power output. It would be like driving 105 MPH on tires rated for 100MPH, only with a nuclear reactor.
Some nuclear power plants in the United States safely run as high as 115% capacity. Most are so old that the safety systems have been vastly upgraded from their original rating.
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