Environmentalists are concerned that small reactors would pose the same risk of leaking radioactive materials as their larger counterparts, says Jan Beranek, nuclear energy project leader at Greenpeace International in Amsterdam. "Terrorists could hijack a reactor and directly use it to cause a meltdown or use it to fabricate fissile materials for later use in a weapon," Beranek says.
Deal rejects those concerns, noting that his units are designed to fit in the same canisters used to transport nuclear fuel for bigger plants. The power-producing core ships in multiple sealed chambers, containing any leak, and the entire unit would be installed in an underground vault to protect it from tampering and natural threats, Hyperion says. "You still have to have guards and dogs, but you have to do that with a grocery store in some countries," says Deal.
IMO the terrorist threat is way over done. Stealing a couple of hundred pounds of commercial explosives from a minesite or similar would be child's play compared to stealing one of these, and the explosives would be far more dangerous in terrorist hands.
| These things are essentially nuclear batteries. You stick it in a vault and leave the connectors exposed. When it's expended you can leave it on site covered with more concrete or you can haul it away. |
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