Setback For Small Nuclear Reactors: B&W Cuts mPower Funding
mdsolar (1045926) writes with news that funding for the mPower, a Small Modular [Nuclear] Reactor, has been cut due to the inability to find investors interested in building a prototype. From the article: "The pullback represents a major blow to the development of SMRs, which have been hailed as the next step forward for the nuclear power industry. ... All told, B&W, the DOE, and partners have spent around $400 million on the mPower program. Another $600 million was needed just to get the technology ready for application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licensing. ... B&W plans to continue low-level R&D on the mPower technology with a view to commercial deployment in the mid-2020s, said CEO James Ferland. But without a major shift in the business environment and in investor perceptions of the risks and rewards associated with nuclear power, that seems fanciful."
Okay, is this real enough for you? No nuclear reactors of any kind in existence right now don't require unbelievably dangerous and radioactive fuel. The end, no 2 ways about it. How are you going to guarantee the security of that? There is no such thing as a non-radiactive tritium reactor. That is a fact and a law of physics. You might as well just ship Uranium or Plutonium directly to the terrorists. Why they think ANYONE would invest in something this insanely, monumentally, suicidally stupid is beyond anyone's comprehension for logic.
Direct money toward large nuclear reactors!
Yes.Now.Do It.
Because they've burnt through all the trillion$ already thrown at them.
Cannot the Fed just install the printing presses on site so that the newly minted Benjamins tip directly into the nuclear core?
Solar burns Hydrogen to produce Helium, generating clean e- and hot water.
Wind bumps off a few birds and produces lots of pain for incumbent generators
Thermal burns coal/gas/oil to produce CO2 and will cook the planet before too long (your opinion may vary)
Nuclear just burns lots of money and a tiny bit of Uranium and "aint going hurt anyone in 200,000 years time".
Cryonics - Keep cool and carry on.