Energy prices are sky-rocketing each year, and that is not
going to change in the near future as well as world population is growing as
never before, oil and gas are becoming increasingly more difficult to harvest
and solar/wind power is not soon going to be a 100% solution.
One company, Hyperion is tapping in this demand for cheaper,
easier power by developing a home-use nuclear
power station, which may soon become availble on the market to meet the
increasingly demanding consumer’s wish for off-grid energy.
Scientists at Los Alamos in New Mexico say the plants will
be on sale within five years. Hyperion Power Generation, based in New Mexico,
said it's already taking orders and will start mass production of its Hyperion
Power Module within the same time frame. The goal "is to generate
electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world," according to a
Hyperion executive. That same executive also said "you could never have a
Chernobyl-type event" with one of the reactors.
According to Hyperion, the home-use nuclear power stations
are safe, easy to install and maintain and cost-efficient.
The reactors, only a few metres in diameter, will be delivered on the back of a lorry to be buried underground. They must be refuelled every 7 to 10 years. Because the reactor is based on a 50-year-old design that has proved safe for students to use, few countries are expected to object to plants on their territory. An application to build the plants will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next year. 'You could never have a Chernobyl-type event - there are no moving parts,' said Deal. 'You would need nation-state resources in order to enrich our uranium. Temperature-wise it's too hot to handle. It would be like stealing a barbecue with your bare hands.'
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