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Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor
Posted on: 2007-12-19 15:28:07 Thanks HardOCP Think the most powerful thing you can have in your garage is a vintage muscle car? How about a 200 kilowatt nuclear reactor? You'll be able to buy one as early as 2009 if Toshiba has its way. "The 200 kilowatt Toshiba designed reactor is engineered to be fail-safe and totally automatic and will not overheat. Unlike traditional nuclear reactors the new micro reactor uses no control rods to initiate the reaction. The new revolutionary technology uses reservoirs of liquid lithium-6, an isotope that is effective at absorbing neutrons. The Lithium-6 reservoirs are connected to a vertical tube that fits into the reactor core. The whole whole process is self sustaining and can last for up to 40 years, producing electricity for only 5 cents per kilowatt hour, about half the cost of grid energy." Read more... Why does the prospect of a small nuclear reactor in every garage make me a wee bit nervous??? |