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Tuesday 20 December 2011

No wind - no worries

From Fast Company

While we in the UK build our subsidised, inefficient windmills, others of a more practical bent are developing some very interesting technologies. One is Toshiba of Japan.

The Super-Safe, Small & Simple (4S) 'nuclear battery' system is being developed by Toshiba and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) in Japan in collaboration with SSTAR work and Westinghouse (owned by Toshiba) in the USA.

Essentially it is a factory-built small, modular nuclear power installation designed for minimal maintenance and with a working life of 30 years. When its working life is over, the nuclear power module cools for a year and is then shipped off for storage and disposal.

More info here. It is worth contrasting that link with this rather unenthusiastic take on the same device from Wikipedia, yet Bill Gates seems keen on the 4S and also the travelling wave reactor.

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