A personal... nuclear reactor?!

[Kevin]

Sometimes when reading a news blurb you think "Oh, it is April Fool's Day already?!" and then you realize "Uh... I think they're serious! " This is one of them.

Japanese industrial giant Toshiba has announced that they will soon be building small nuclear reactors meant for use in small communities or even in apartment/condo buildings. The first installation is expected to be done in Japan in 2008.

Next Energy News

Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

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.

[skwirlinator]

Now we just need a Flux Capacitor