Hyperion hopes mini nuclear reactors will power the world

by Stevie Smith - Nov 11 2008, 13:00

Small and self-sufficient nuclear reactors could well be providing cheap and efficient power around the world within the next five years, according to U.S. Department of Energy scientists working out of Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The technology, licensed to Santa Fe start-up Hyperion Power Generation, will see factory-sealed mini nuclear power plants delivered on trucks, placed beneath communities, and able to provide power for up to 20,000 homes.

Capable of delivering power for between seven and 10 years, at which point the reactor must be returned to the factory for refuelling, the technology is based on the TRIGA research reactor design already successfully used to provide power for university campuses across America.

Speaking with the Observer newspaper, Hyperion CEO John Deal said the company’s main goal is to utilise the nuclear technology “to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world.”

According to Deal, a single reactor will cost approximately $25 million USD, which, across a community of 10,000 households, equates to “a very affordable” $2,500 USD per home.

Allaying safety fears, the mini nuclear reactors, which are only a few metres in size, will contain no weapons-grade materials and no moving parts.

Furthermore, potential theft is also something that shouldn’t be an issue given that the reactors will be encased in concrete and buried in the ground.

“You would need nation-state resources in order to enrich our uranium,” said Deal. “Temperature-wise it’s too hot to handle. It would be like stealing a barbecue with your bare hands.”

Hyperion’s low-maintenance mini reactors function by using lead hydride, which creates a pool of molten metal within the power plant and serves as both fuel and coolant. It also moderates function and, if the liquid becomes too hot, meltdown is avoided by the hydrogen atoms chemically separating from the uranium.

Hyperion claims to have already taken more than 100 orders and has a six-year waiting list for its reactors. Expected to move into mass production within the next five years, the company will use three production facilities to create 4,000 plants between 2013 and 2023.

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