

Bill Gates, China talking about jointly developing nuclear reactor - tilt
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/12/07/technology-bill-gates-china-nuclear-reactor.html

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harrylove
This is what TerraPower is building:
[http://www.terrapower.com/Technology/TravelingWaveReactor.as...](http://www.terrapower.com/Technology/TravelingWaveReactor.aspx)

Here's Bill Gates' TED talk from February 2010 in which he describes the tech
<http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates.html>

~~~
cr4zy
Gates implies liquid approaches to nuclear are hard compared to TerraPower 23
mins into the TED talk. Liquid as in LFTR (Liquid Flouride Thorium Reactor)?

~~~
umarmung
Yes, he's trying to wean China off molten salt reactor development,
specifically reactors like the LFTR.

China is basically the only market for fission reactors left. They are the
only ones purchasing new external nuclear reactor technology as well as
aggressively pursuing their own.

Bill Gates realises if China produces anything successfully independent from
the West, then even if TWR functioned and functioned well, it would be a dead
investment from a market (and personal legacy) perspective.

~~~
cr4zy
Are you saying there's a conflict of interest between finding the best
solution and preserving his investment/legacy?

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andyl
The TerraPower design is really interesting - hope it is successful. China is
also developing Thorium reactors.
([http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_prit...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8393984/Safe-
nuclear-does-exist-and-China-is-leading-the-way-with-thorium.html)) Safe/cheap
nuclear would make such an impact - I'm happy to see developments - though I
wish they were coming at a faster pace.

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1010011010
Presumably because one cannot test a nuclear reactor in the US -- at least not
as easily as it can be done in China.

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pjscott
This makes sense. Bill Gates wants cheap, clean, reliable energy. Nuclear fits
the bill. China is the place where nuclear energy happens these days.

What's he supposed to do, wrestle with the regulators in the US? The red tape
here is horrendous.

~~~
drhowarddrfine
Yes. China is not our friend and the US owes them billions. Yet Gates is
pumping millions into their economic future. China can stand on their own two
feet. Let them make their own effort.

~~~
marknutter
A rising tide lifts all ships. He's also pumping millions into eradicating
disease in third world countries. Should "let them make their own effort?"

The US is shooting itself in the foot with its attitudes toward nuclear power.

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dantheman
I hope we'll see more and more of this type of development, it's pitiful that
nuclear technology has stalled in the US.

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danmaz74
Interestingly, TerraPower was launched by noted patent troll Intellectual
Ventures [1], a company which Microsoft might have a stake in [2].

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_wave_reactor>

[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures>

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wluu
Bill Gates talks about energy (including Nuclear), and investments in the
sector here (about 20 mins long) -
[http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Topics/Energy/Nuclear-Energy-
Af...](http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Topics/Energy/Nuclear-Energy-After-
Fukushima)

He mentions his investment and interest in Terrapower briefly towards the end.

And another article about Gates' visit to China last year -
[http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Personal/In-China-Speeding-
Towa...](http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Personal/In-China-Speeding-Toward-the-
Future)

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MikeCapone
I wish he would also support LFTR thorium reactors so that if this doesn't
work as well as expected, there's a plan B for cheap and safe nuclear power.

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teyc
It is a win-win. China gets to be first (and Thorium reactor products cannot
be easily weaponized), US gets to use China as a proving ground, and then the
US regulators themselves are pressured to change their attitudes, which then
creates a market for TerraPower.

~~~
umarmung
" _China gets to be first (and Thorium reactor products cannot be easily
weaponized)_ "

You do realise that Bill Gates owns and backs an opposing technology?

Hint: it is not thorium based.

~~~
teyc
I stand corrected.

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denzil_correa
China's Isn't Building a Traveling Wave Nuclear Plant (Yet) Rumors of a
partnership between TerraPower and China aren't true.

<http://www.technologyreview.in/blog/energy/27395/>

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neutronicus
Huh. My TA from my senior design project works for TerraPower now. Small
world.

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igravious
I am so conflicted :(

I loathe Microsoft but I *love what Bill G is doing philanthropically. Like I
saw a great program[1] with Ian Hislop on BBC2 recently partly about this
Victorian banker in Britain who was a notorious skinflint all his life,
amassed a fortune and then built decent housing for the poor with the lot of
his wealth. The mind boggles.

1: [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/23/ian-hislop-
when-...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/23/ian-hislop-when-bankers-
were-good)

edit: Enough with the hate already. This is the reason i stopped coming to
this site, you can't say anything outside the party line.

~~~
1010011010
It's a bit like the charities founded by the robber barons, isn't it?

~~~
igravious
I should read up on it, maybe it's a pattern? Once your basic needs are
totally covered and once the guilt sets in you start to give a little
something back? Dunno. Wish more people were like those robber barons and the
later Bill Gates in that case. Especially with the way income inequality's
been going.

~~~
rbanffy
Guilt? Don't think so. I woul bet on something more like "now, let me engineer
how I'll be remembered".

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drhowarddrfine
There is just something wrong about this and I can't articulate it.

~~~
drhowarddrfine
Then I guess I will articulate it.

While there are so many of us out of work and starving, Gates has no problems
pumping millions into Africa and China. Africans have never shown the ability
to stand on their own two feet and China is not our friend. THAT is what's
wrong with this.

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ypcx
Accept no less than Zero-point energy. Everything else is a distraction, and
an attempt to sustain the old models with implicit consumer control. Educate
yourself, start here: <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0525952047/> (seriously, it's
a great read, with all references to the original research works)

~~~
ypcx
Just -2 for such a heresy?

