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Port-A-Nuke

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are designing a self-contained, tamper-resistant nuclear reactor that can be transported and installed anywhere in the world. In 'US plans portable nuclear power plants,' New Scientist writes that the sealed reactors would last 30 years and deliver between 10 and 100 megawatts. The largest version would be about 15 meters high and 3 meters wide, with a weight of about 500 tons, allowing for transportation by ships or very large trucks. The DOE thinks that this kind of nuclear reactor -- named SSTAR for 'small, sealed, transportable, autonomous reactor' -- would help to deliver nuclear energy to developing countries while significantly reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation associated with the use of nuclear power. What do you think of this idea? Is it a good one or a crazy one? Leaving a nuclear reactor in a developing country which can potentially become unstable during the 30 years of service of the reactor doesn't seem to be terribly safe. Read more before deciding. Anyway, there will be no prototypes before 2015."

9 of 791 comments (clear)

  1. One Dirty Bomb by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Just add C4, Dynamite or Fuel and Fertilizer if you're really hard up.

    Leaving a nuclear reactor in a developing country

    I trust this means stable and reasonably secure developing country. Some of us have learned some things in the last few years. Some of us have learned a lot in the last 72 hours. :-(

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  2. Re:I've got mine on pre-order. by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'll take the 10 megawatts model for my house.

    Considering my last power bill, these bigger and faster CPUs really need some juice and if you go multicore and such, you may not be exaggerating. All this bitching about nuclear power being safe, pollution from Coal and Gas plants, how ineffective Solar or Wind are -- doesn't anyone realize we're using more electrical power than ever before? Even when we have vaccum tube TV's?

    Looking at the octopi at work and around home it seems my next house should have powerstrips along the walls, not just outlets.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  3. Now a Porn-A-Nuke? by Wrexs0ul · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now a Porn-A-Nuke?

    Also known as a very dirty bomb.

    -Matt

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    --- Need web hosting?
  4. Re:I've got mine on pre-order. by the+chao+goes+mu · · Score: 5, Funny
    Wouldn't "no bigger than an asteroid the size of a VW" be more simply stated as "no bigger than a VW"?

    Or is this some sort of demonostration of the fact that size is transitive? A=B, B=C Thus A=C?

    You could have just as easily said "no bigger than a block of cheese the size of a pile of matchsticks the size of an asteroid the size of a VW".

    --
    Boys from the City. Not yet caught by the Whirlwind of Progress. Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs.
  5. Re:I've got mine on pre-order. by WormholeFiend · · Score: 5, Funny

    not to mention the light fixtures and hydroponic systems required to grow pot in a basement...

    oh and thanks for reminding me to feed the lizard.

  6. Re:It's not the CRT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You seem utterly clueless.

    The power rating of the PSU is how much power it *can deliver*, not how much it will drain from the grid just because you plug it in.

    And fans draw practically no power at all, maybe one or two watts, so I don't see why you drag them into the discussion...

  7. Re:Arrogance by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Who made the United States the ruler of world affairs?

    Europe. Happened in WWII when the rest of the world proved that it couldn't keep from trying to destroy itself. So the Allied powers were given certain rights, and the rest of the world was divided up into little pieces. (Germany, the Middle East, etc.) Our then ally (Russia) then immediately did an about face and became a cold war enemy. They chose to begin taking over the various countries through use of their "Communist ideals".

    They then proceeded to sap up all the countries that we hadn't broken into tiny pieces, in an effort to gain more world power. The remaining European allies lacked the necessary GDP to defend against any war that Russia might start, so it was left up to the US to be the "good guys". Don't like it? Too bad. Build your own damn supercarriers, neutron bombs, and space lasers instead of sitting on your thumbs.

    As for countries like Iran, Hussein's Iraq, Pakistan, etc, they were broken up for a reason. Very simply: we can't trust them as far as we can kick them. September 11 only proves that. It doesn't stop us from being friendly and trying to help these countries out, but you can bet your ass that the US and UN are not looking to allow them nuclear weapons!

    You want to stop nuclear proliferation? How about starting with the United States, Israel, England, France, India...

    Leave the US and England out of this. Our nuclear weapons are pretty much at the "yeah, we have some" point. A large chunk of our arsenal has been destroyed, and many of their silos abandoned. I'd say leave France out of this too, but they've had dealings with the Middle East that puts them in the spotlight.

    Everyone else in the Middle East is looking to point atomic weapons at each other. Why? None of their excuses make sense to us, so we just try to keep them from lobbing any of those nukes at us or any of our allies.

  8. Re:I've got mine on pre-order. by Sylver+Dragon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They satisfy all three of your requirements.

    Not quite true, I have most of my apartment converted to the spiral flouresent bulbs, the one exception is the light in my bedroom. The reason I haven't converted my bedroom is that the compact floresent bulbs do have a 1 to 2 second startup delay, and I suffer from night-terrors. My fiance needs to be able to get a light on immediatly when I go into one of those, as its the only thing that snaps me out of them. Considering that I have been know to both do damage to the room, and to attack her during a night-terror, we both want to have no delay in getting that light on.
    But, other than that one light, ya, compact floresent bulbs for the rest of the place, they are cheaper to run, and personally, I prefer the light they give out.

    --
    Necessity is the mother of invention.
    Laziness is the father.
  9. Re:Arrogance by Politburo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As for countries like Iran, Hussein's Iraq, Pakistan, etc, they were broken up for a reason. Very simply: we can't trust them as far as we can kick them. September 11 only proves that.

    Odd. You don't mention either of the two countries that actually had anything to do with September 11: Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.