
Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes - gibsonf1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/09/miniature-nuclear-reactors-los-alamos
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petercooper
_'They will cost approximately $25m [£13m] each. For a community with 10,000
households, that is a very affordable $250 per home.'_

Make that $2,500. Somewhat less affordable. That's a $2,500 capital investment
for electricity that's about a third of the going rate, so it'd pay for itself
reasonably quickly (within 5 years, I'd guess).

All this said, if they're safe, easily positioned _and_ cheaper than the
regular power grid in base costs, surely the power companies would be
interested in rolling these out to lower their own costs? You'd certainly
reduce "cost of transport" issues that exist with the current system.

Like the $1/watt solar panels, I doubt we'll be seeing these real soon, no
matter the promise, but I hope places like Antarctica, remote island
communities, etc, get them first.

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ars
Anyone have more concrete information about the design?

How do they modulate the reactor to deal with varying loads? (Or do they dump
the energy?)

How is the heat converted to electricity?

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davo11
A little more info is here - not all positive

<http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/12/a_nuclear_hot_t.php>

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mseebach
No. The only thing added is a highly speculative and suggestive quote ( _Of
course, factoring in enough cronyism, corruption and official ignorance and
boosterism, it’s possible the principals could make some money during the
initial stages, before the crows come home to roost_ ) from the "Los Alamos
Study Group".

Also, the article ends in the words, "Or maybe not".

That _fully_ sums up the criticism of the device.

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newt0311
None of this is going to happen without a more streamlined regulatory process
to allow their sale in the first place.

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RobertL
It looks like these things are going to be a lot easier on the Environment.
Not as visually disruptive and I don't think they'll be killing many eagles.

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newt0311
nevertheless the anti-nuclear fringe will go haywire over this regardless of
its benefits. You are forgetting that these guys operate like a religion, not
a rational group. If not, they would have gone pro-nuclear a long time ago.

