Toshiba Designs Micro Reactor

Here’s an idea for a green Christmas present that will give everyone a warm glow in 2009. Toshiba, probably better known for making big tellies and little laptops, is also involved in heavy industry, including the design and manufacture of nuclear reactors. However, with one eye possibly on the home market, it has just come up with a Micro Reactor, capable of generating around 200kw of power, more than enough to power an apartment building, a housing estate or two, or your mansion.

It’s automatic, will not overheat and the fully self-contained design fits snugly in a space measuring 6 metres by 3 metres x 3 metres or a decent sized basement or cellar. Just in case you’re worried it is failsafe too, using liquid lithium-6 as both the reactor control and coolant. The process is entirely self-sustaining and it should keep on generating heat and power for up to 40 years without the need for refuelling. According to the experts electricity generated in this way should only cost 2 – 3 pence per kilowatt-hour, though the payback on the initial outlay, likely to be several million pounds, could take a while….