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| Science & Technology |
| Toshiba builds neighborhood-sized nuclear reactor |
| 2007-12-20 |
| Toshiba has developed a new class of micro size Nuclear Reactors that is designed to power individual apartment buildings or city blocks. The new reactor, which is only 20 feet by 6 feet, could change everything for small remote communities, small businesses or even a group of neighbors who are fed up with the power companies and want more control over their energy needs. 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. Toshiba expects to install the first reactor in Japan in 2008 and to begin marketing the new system in Europe and America in 2009. The article doesn't tell us what it costs, but if it's cheap enough that the savings in going off the grid isn't eaten up by installation and maintenance, this could do a lot for reducing the civilized world's dependence on oil. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #5 I hate Toshiba for selling US Sub secrets to the Soviets during the Cold war but this report and there super-rechargable battery are going a long way towards changing my opinion. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-12-20 23:51 |
| #4 no it is not an hoax |
| Posted by: Pholugum Stalin1270 2007-12-20 22:22 |
| #3 WORLD ARMED FORCES FORUM [WAFF]> USAF reportedly wants to construct a "SMALL PACKAGE" NUCLEAR REACTOR/NUCFAC in one of its CONUS bases. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-12-20 18:40 |
| #2 A 10 MW reactor to power isolated communities The Toshiba 4S has been described in some promotional articles as a nuclear battery, but as attractive as the plant is, that is too simplistic a description. The plant is a small, sodium cooled fast reactor with a rather technologically advanced, compact steam turbine secondary system. Though it is based on sound engineering design work dating back to 1988, there are some areas where the designers and manufacturers will be pressing the edges of the known in terms of chemistry, materials, equipment reliability and fluid flow. If history is any guide, the system will require a significant number of design modifications and operating procedure refinements as more is learned by actual construction and operation. If there is sufficient patience and dedication, the system could prove to be a reliable power producer. The core heat source for this plant is quite compact; it is only about 0.7 meters in diameter and about 2 meters tall. This section of the plant would be at the bottom of the 30 meter deep excavation inside a sealed cylinder, a location that helps to provide the driving force needed for natural circulation cooling and that provides an impressive level of nuclear material security. The active core material is a metallic alloy of uranium, plutonium and zirconium. The material has been extensively tested but it has not been commercially produced and used as a reactor fuel. Think it's a bad idea. Too tempting a target to steal fissile and highly radioactive materials. With (10s or 100s of) thousands required, not feasible or economic to guard them all. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-12-20 16:55 |
| #1 CAUTION: Instapundit thinks this story may be a hoax. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-12-20 15:58 |