"Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor"

[Chuck Moreland]

[Joeaksa]

Would take one in a heartbeat! Get a plot of land in the middle of no-where and enjoy life to the fullest without having to fuss with anyone.

Joe

[Bill Verburg]

just what we need more of floating around
"Lithium enriched in the isotope Lithium-6 remains a controlled material because of its utility in the production of compact and highly efficient thermonuclear secondaries. Two-stage nuclear weapons incorporating a lithium-deuteride-fueled component can deliver greater nuclear yield from a smaller and lighter package than if a pure fission device were used."

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Anyone see the odd irony in the Japanese (of all people) pushing nuclear technology?

[djmcmath]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

Nothing too revolutionary here, at least with respect to size. Remember that they have had nuclear reactors on submarines for quite a long time now.

-Wayne

Submarine-based reactors are:
a - Much larger than that, as far as the pure size goes. The core itself is pretty small, but the rest of the plant is huge. Takes up most of the back half of the submarine. They're also (I think -- the exact scale of the Toshiba machine's power is not clear) a good bit more powerful. IIRC, we measure shaft torque in millions of foot pounds. There are emergency procedures in place for the nuclear prototype facilities in South Carolina such that if the local city loses power, the prototypes will supply the whole town until power comes back.
b - Not at all autonomous. It requires continuous operator attention to keep the plant alive. Well, sort of. Start up requires about a dozen guys who know what they're doing. Shut down is similar but faster. And someone has to keep an eye on the control rods. If you dork it up, the plant shuts down and you lose all your steam. If something goes wrong (pipe ruptures, for example), someone has to take emergency action to recover the plant to keep producing electricity and fix the problem.

Now, it occurs to me that there are some quietly insurmountable problems with selling small nuclear plants to people:
1 - There are some upkeep issues that will cause problems. If something goes wrong, who fixes it? Because stuff does go wrong, especially on nuclear plants that have been quietly embrittling themselves with neutron radiation for 40 years.
2 - What about fuel? Ok, 40 years is a long time, but at the end of that time, you've got to track down a new core and find someone who really wants a used reactor core.
3 - There are some continuous items that have to be dealt with, and I'm not sure they can claim a "sealed system" and just give up on things. Plant chemistry? Water? Radiation? Any reactor that's only 6 feet across must be measured BEFORE they put any shielding on it.

(shrug) Just my two cents. Good luck to these poor buggers.

Dan

[p911dad]

Maybe I will dedicate the new year and $50.00 to getting a jr. nuclear plant operator's certificate from the NRC! I could be the first on my block!

[dtw]

Gonna wait for the Ronco version. Can get two for the price of one Toshiba, plus a set of ginsu knives.

[red-beard]

Cha-cha-cha-chia-nuke!

or maybe

And of course, control via "The Clapper"...

Could you imagine one of these selling on one of those infomercials?

"What if I told you, that you, AND YOUR NEIGHBORS, would never have to buy electricity again. What would that be worth to you? $500,000? $1,000,000? What if I told you that you could have this for 500 easy payments of $599.95?"

"NOOOOO! LOWER"

"What? That's not good enough? OK, How about 500 easy payments of only $299.95, and I throw in a full set of lead "Fruit of the Loom" underwear, the gator grip and a remote control clapper?"

"NOOOOO! We want a better deal?"

"STILL not good enough? OK, How about 500 easy payments of only $199.95, the lead underwear, the gator grip, clapper and we give you this Al Gore memorial look a like Nobel Peace prize?"

"YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"I think we have a winner here!"