Toshiba builds 100x smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor : A hoax
It is interesting enough following through the new developments in the nuclear industry with innovative GEN4 reactors sprouting out concepts little explored before. But then again, there is nothing like a hoax that seems very genuine from one of the biggest heads in the nuclear industry. Here’s an excerpt.
A blog called Next Energy News leaks a story about Toshiba building a “Micro Nuclear Reactor” that would be nothing short of a miracle.
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.
via Gadgets-Weblog
Sad that this news was a hoax but in reality, if such a design were to be made in a feasible manner, this could be wonderful in lieu of the growing concerns on global warming and move towards greener energy. Well, it still would create new problems in the nuclear non-proliferation regime but lets deal with this one step at a time.