Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

Commodore · 2007-12-20 00:28:31

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.

A fantastic piece of technology that really has the potential to change the world. But it would require serious safeguards. I would imagine the price would probably be the biggest.

MarsRefresh · 2007-12-20 20:16:53

Very Cool. I like the potential for using "Mars-style" terraforming for cold regions of Earth with such technology. Thanks for posting this.

Terraformer · 2007-12-22 06:38:37

Neat! Gotta get me one of those.

On a side note, could it fit inside the shuttle cargo bay? I assume it could, so why don't we bolt one on to the ISS?

JoshNH4H · 2007-12-30 09:18:51

Terraformer, you like the iss, don't you. THE ISS IS A DEAD END. It has an open loop life support system, it's orbit will decay in a matter of years, it's ineffficient, in an unhealthy environment, and is much too expensive.

Terraformer · 2007-12-30 11:46:01

And that is why we BOOST ITS ORBIT.

Like it or loathe it, its the only space station we have, and it would cost more to scrap it and start again, so we might as well get some use out of it. Even if we strip it down for raw materials for a Moon craft.

PS: An open loop? Did I hear you correctly? You can't have an 'open loop'. A loop by definition is not open.

JoshNH4H · 2007-12-30 16:59:38

that's the name for a life support system that need outside materials. Ex. Earth= Closed loop life support system. ISS= open loop (needs air, water, food brought up, waste brought down.)

Commodore · 2007-12-30 22:39:49

And that is why we BOOST ITS ORBIT.
Like it or loathe it, its the only space station we have, and it would cost more to scrap it and start again, so we might as well get some use out of it. Even if we strip it down for raw materials for a Moon craft.

Actually, once development of the Ares V and the Bigelow/Transhab inflatable modules are complete, we'll be able to dwarf the ISS in a single launch. At 1/50th the cost.

Terraformer · 2007-12-31 06:41:08

But we'll still have the ISS up there. It would make sense to dismantle it and convert it into spacecraft.

And jumpboy11j, habitats in open space are always going to be 'open loop'. There will always be a demand for new materials and goods. We can reduce the need but not get rid of it completely.

JoshNH4H · 2007-12-31 10:30:02

Open loop refers to the biosphere, not the materials needs. It is possible to go very, very close to closed loop, while the ISS in not now, nor will it ever, be anywhere approaching closed loop.

Terraformer · 2007-12-31 11:02:26

But you'd need a planet, or at least a moon, sized habitat. The Earth is not 'closed loop', it just had loads of materials and oxygen and water and other such stuff to start with.

JoshNH4H · 2007-12-31 11:14:35

but now, does it need any inputs but light from the sun? NO

It is theoretically possible to make it so that a rotating space station can have a biosphere that needs a negligible amount of input to sustain its biosphere. This is what an outpost/base/colony of any size will need.

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#1 2007-12-20 00:28:31

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#2 2007-12-20 20:16:53

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#3 2007-12-22 06:38:37

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#4 2007-12-30 09:18:51

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#5 2007-12-30 11:46:01

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#6 2007-12-30 16:59:38

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#7 2007-12-30 22:39:49

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#8 2007-12-31 06:41:08

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#9 2007-12-31 10:30:02

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#10 2007-12-31 11:02:26

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

#11 2007-12-31 11:14:35

Re: Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

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