On: Nuclear reactors a mile underground promise safe, cheap power

[blacksmith_tb]

Isn't that a chicken and egg problem? These small designs are supposed to be (more) automated, so they wouldn't need huge teams of people 24/7. My main response to the idea of sticking one so far underground is that you might as well just make a geothermal plant.

[Retric → blacksmith_tb]

Hard to say, but this could need a larger staff.

The physical bit of reactor where the fission happens is left alone in operation. All the pipes, steam turbines, pumps, plumbing, cooling towers, etc etc do and this wants all of that on the surface.