Toshiba has developed a new class of micro size Nuclear Reactors that is designed to power individual buildings or city blocks. The new reactor, which is only 20 feet by 6 feet, could change everything for small remote communities, small businesses, neighborhoods and billionaires who 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.
Internet pundit John Dvorak calculated on his blog that annual
operating costs around $87,500 and a total cost over 40 years of about
$3.5 million. That's a price tag half of Google's staff could afford.
Toshiba expects to install the first reactor in Japan in 2008 and to
begin marketing the new system in Europe and America in 2009.
Posted by Casey Kazan.
Story Link:
http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news-toshiba-micro-nuclear-12.17b.html