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Mini Nuclear Plants For Sale, can power 20,000 homes
by sara star | November 22, 2008 at 06:31 am
406 views | 25 Recommendations | 23 comments
Nuclear Energy to be used to generate power to homes. Licensed by the US govt, Hyperion claims it is safe.
Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb.
The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried underground.
The US government has licensed the technology to Hyperion, a New Mexico-based company which said last week that it has taken its first firm orders and plans to start mass production within five years. 'Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a kilowatt hour anywhere in the world,' said John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion. 'They will cost approximately $25m [£16m] each. For a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable $2,500 per home.'
Deal claims to have more than 100 firm orders, largely from the oil and electricity industries, but says the company is also targeting developing countries and isolated communities. 'It's leapfrog technology,' he said.
November 22, 2008 at 06:31 am by sara star, 406 views, 23 comments
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Recommendations (25)
Paschen
Narita, Japan
Milieunet
Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
danesller0127
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Cypresso
Houston, Texas, United States
Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (23)
at 08:04 on November 22nd, 2008
This would be great... if it works.
at 08:39 on November 22nd, 2008
I think so. It's too bad they used it for weaponry when it first came out, and this gave it a bad connotation.
at 09:02 on November 22nd, 2008
It is a good news for energy-deficient nations.
at 09:25 on November 24th, 2008
Doubtless the stupidest idea I have heard from corporate America in my entire life!
When I can build a home that requires virtually no power to heat it even at sub-zero temperatures, and I can supply all of my own energy needs off the grid with small efficient wind turbines and passive solar, why the hell would I want to hook up to the most dangerous source of power the world will ever know?
Let's see...upon even cursory examination what could the drawbacks to mini-nuke plants be???
Terrorists stealing the nuclear material, or blowing some of the little guys up right in your back yard. Collecting, transporting and disposing of mega-tons of spent fuel from tens of thousands of locations, a problem which already has no solution. Terrorists hijacking some of the thousands of tons being collected and transported. Failure of even a few of the collection and transportation vehicles or the flawed humans who would run them. Expanding destructive mining processes to find enough of an already dwindling supply of uranium. Melt-downs, system and mechanical failures causing melt-downs and releases of contaminated steam and water into your neighborhood. Earthquakes and other natural disasters causing the release of radio-isotopes or melt-downs. Decommissioning contaminated old units and getting what's left off site or mothballing the lethal little guys considering they will remain lethal for millions of years. Putting up with a new wave of cancers and birth defects that are proven to increase in populations that live in close proximity to reactors.
Are you getting my drift here?
Those who want to sell you this pig-in-a-poke will tell you "They're perfectly safe." Yah right and so was Vioxx, and the cheque's in the mail, and toys from China are safe, and the foundations of the economy are solid, and "Don't worry your house will evaluate and you'll have no problem paying your mortgage, and "These layoffs are only temporary.", nothing to worry about, just sign here.
at 10:41 on November 22nd, 2008
You can already buy turnkey nuclear reactors capable of powering a village from Toshiba.
at 13:14 on November 22nd, 2008
I ran across this about three or four years ago, when I was in Fairbanks, Alaska... I could not find the article I remember reading, but I did find this one which references the first will be used in a small village in Alaska.
http://www.primidi.com/2005/02/06.html
at 14:30 on November 22nd, 2008
Galena had a requirement, don't know if they still do with the F-22 squadron based in Anchorage.
at 13:21 on November 22nd, 2008
I have to wonder how the waste is managed in these turnkey systems. Though the reactor doesn't have weapons-grade fuel, it must use some fissile material, which eventually must be replaced. What happens to the spent fuel and other radioactive wastes? Would the owner be responsible for them? And how can we be assured that the spent materials would be properly handled?
at 13:32 on November 22nd, 2008
Maybe there'll be a new curbside bin for them, which pedestrians should approach with the utmost caution...
at 13:59 on November 22nd, 2008
Good points - I bet they haven't thought that far ahead....
at 14:20 on November 22nd, 2008
Doubtless the stupidest idea I have heard from corporate America in my entire life!
When I can build a home that requires virtually no power to heat it even at sub-zero temperatures, and I can supply all of my own energy needs off the grid with small efficient wind turbines and passive solar, why the hell would I want to hook up to the most dangerous source of power the world will ever know?
All that you say is true... IF You can get it at an affordable price...Solar conversion is not cheap. Wind turbine great idea if you have enough wind. Passive solar also great but how much and how is it paid for? It's always about the money... hybrid cars, great idea if you can afford them. See what I mean
at 16:01 on November 22nd, 2008
I hear you Reno
But I am not sure that the nuclear plants are cheap either. I have been trying to find out where I can purchase them, but I don't think it is offered to the public yet. The only place I found said it was worth about 15 million dollars. It may be cheap to produce, but the likes of won't be able to afford it.
If everyone started to buy solar and wind conversion, the mass of people would drive the price down. For example, remember how expensive cell phones were when they first came out, when only a handful of people had them?
Thanks for your input. Appreciate it.
at 09:36 on November 24th, 2008
reno,
I'll spend more rather than take the the hair-raising risks involved in mini-nuke plants just to save a few dollars.
The house building company I linked to (above) builds at about the same cost per square foot as wood frame, and if you look there are hundreds of innovative efficient house designs and an endless stream of new, inexpensive power supplement systems available. Ingenuity, once unleashed in these realms, and given the same kind of political and economic support as the piggy, wasteful, and dangerous nuclear industry will bring the price down on all of this.
Problem is the nuclear industry, and BIG POWER, don't want you and me to be able to live without paying them and paying them, and paying them. The big energy companies and industry associations are the largest impediment to energy innovation and conservation on the planet.
at 16:17 on November 22nd, 2008
Like I said earlier, too bad nuclear weaponry came out first and gave nuclear power a bad name. Perhaps tiny amounts of nuclear energy would be a benefit. My Jury is still out on that.
In NS my electric power rate is 10.67 cents (Canadian)a KWH, with a ten percent increase due in Jan. The nuclear plants offer it at 10 cents(US), so its more expensive. This was a 2007 projection, haven't been able to find recent info. Fairbanks maybe you can help.
Maybe this is what Bush meant when he said we must get off the independence of fossil fuels. Warming us up to Nuclear Power.
at 16:57 on November 22nd, 2008
I had to lock mine in at 15.5, as it was up to 19.7 cents.... That is in Houston, Texas
at 18:57 on November 22nd, 2008
Yikes. US funds too. 10 cents here equates to about 7-8 cent US. You are talking half the rate.
Hey, aren't you the guys that are using natural gas from Nova Scotia?? When most of NS have yet to have access it.... We got a raw deal, but that is the fault of our corrupt politicians.
Glad our rate is cheaper. No complaints here.
at 18:58 on November 22nd, 2008
I am not sure of the resources we use to generate our energy... but I had to do something... My bill increased 300 percent in four months... :(
at 05:55 on November 24th, 2008
I wonder what the price will be next year? And the year after that?
at 15:09 on November 24th, 2008
Actually, Sara, I feel that rates will drop, as oil prices drop... A hope, anyway.. :)
at 09:39 on November 24th, 2008
sara,
If all of this is only about money and "rates" then the human species is doomed. The future, the environment, and not killing ourselves to save a few bucks needs to become more of a consideration I think. Time to look beyond the same old same old which has gotten us here in the first place!
at 15:08 on November 24th, 2008
Moonwolf.. I like most of your comments, lol.. but where do you come up with such stuff at this... "the human species is doomed"? If you really believe that, well that is your opinion, but certainly not newsworthy to posted in such a fashion.. Sara and myself talking about "rates" is what we are facing daily, in reality, to either get to our future or your "doom" ... Life goes on... and bills have to be paid.
at 23:40 on November 22nd, 2008
Safe??? What to do with nuclear waste??
at 00:39 on November 23rd, 2008
Not a good Idea, Nuclear waist is highly toxic and can not be recycle nor disposed of safely.