k wrote:
] ] The small town of Galena, Alaska, is tired to pay 28
] ] cents/kwh for its electricity, three times the national
] ] average. Today, Galena "is powered by generators burning
] ] diesel that is barged in during the Yukon River's
] ] ice-free months," according to Reuters. But Toshiba,
] ] which designs a small nuclear reactor named 4S (for
] ] "Super Safe, Small, & Simple"), is offering a free
] ] reactor to the 700-person village, reports the New York
] ] Times (no reg. needed).
]
] [ I've posted about this before... I think it looks very
] promising. -k]

Interesting technology but one would think the regulatory, research, security and system monitoring costs (mostly personnel) would soon outweigh the apparently cost savings over the current power system unless totally underwritten as R&D by Toshiba..

IconoclasT wrote:
] Interesting technology but one would think the regulatory,
] research, security and system monitoring costs (mostly
] personnel) would soon outweigh the apparently cost savings
] over the current power system unless totally underwritten as
] R&D by Toshiba..

[ I believe that Toshiba is going to underwrite the regulatory costs, at least, since they're trying to use this as a proof of concept for the rest of the country. As for monitoring, I dunno, I would think that the day-to-day maintenance wouldn't necessarily be greater for this than for the old system and may, in fact, be less. Certainly that's the impression they give, though I wouldn't stake anything on that. Security is the one issue I haven't really seen mentioned, other than a note that the fuel is of a sort that makes it undesirable to steal for weapons use, and that it's pretty tough to get at in the first place. But you're right, that aspect has gotten very light coverage so far. I'll be really curious to see how all this pans out.

-k]