Emkro (beta)

I just happened upon this article discussing ‘backyard’ nuclear reactors; which itself was a summary of this interview with the people behind the idea.

I must say, I am intrigued and hopeful even if the ‘backyard’ name is a little bit of a misnomer. Each reactor will be able to power 20,000 homes and has an operational life of about 8 years. Therefore, this is obviously not something you will have in your backyard. The company states they hope to sell about 4000 of these with their first design run; a lofty, yet attainable goal. On the surface, the safety of such a reactor looks quite good and I believe it is from a physics point of view. In addition, they claim it is worthless as a basis for weapons grade uranium enrichment, but I imagine that dirty bombs are possible from their fuel, something that is most likely a major concern for people and governments around the world. Therefore, security will still be an issue, but because the reactor is buried underground, it may be minimal. Overall, I am very excited about the possibilities this has for both distributed generation and our energy independence. My only fear is the U.S. political machine will not allow such a great thing to come to America. I sense our current regulations and outdated laws will stymie this great technology.

I hope I am wrong.