Home nuclear reactor.

[Rick]

OOOH! Smores!!!!!Over the blue glow of a nuclear fire. MMMMMmmmmmm.

[Kemperor]

Ok, AP was right, as far as Toshiba's concerned, it's a hoax and they don't make them. they do make this though.
Tiny Hydroelectric generator.
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/f-ene/hydro...ducts/doc5.htm

the origin of the micro nuclear reactor is called the RAPID-L. Originally designed for moon or extraterrestrial colonization. It could also be used the same way. Currently, at least from what I could gather, is these designs are still prototypical.
http://criepi.denken.or.jp/en/e_publ.../02seika30.pdf
http://criepi.denken.or.jp/en/e_publ.../04kiban18.pdf

I'm going to find as much info as possible on this and post it when I find it. Right now it's time for mom's 15 Bean soup.

[Assassin Pilot]

And microwaving yourself too, nothing is fale safe or fool proof and only works as well as you maintain it. In my young opinion. Its not a hoax we read about it in Science Lab and one kid did a report on it. But its not actually for a single home its for a small town, business park or industrial park, or a big plant such as GE.

it sounds very legitimate, but I cannot find it on the Toshiba website, and I have read reports of it being fake. I do not see any sort of actual endorsement from Toshiba that it is true, and I am seeing quite the opposite

[Assassin Pilot]

Yeay, I'm right! (this is the first time in several months, so I'm a bit excited)

*victory dance*

[Tony uk]

You're gonna go around wearing boots like that you better have a nuclear reactor in your hot pockets...After seeing that pic, I do fear ya man, I do. I finally have a plan for after tshtf, I'm going over to Chris's mountain retreat and making 'smores. (the ones that glow in the dark are just the bestest!)

In food

Green = Healthy

[BatCat]

Pssst Rick, the dudes name in BatCat.

It's ok Sam. the first thing to go with old age is the mind

You know the saying "I may have Alzheimers, but at least I don't have Alzheimers"


BatCat

[Sam]

Too true, that's why I love Easter. I can hide my own eggs.

[BatCat]

Too true, that's why I love Easter. I can hide my own eggs.

Yup, thats true. The only down side of that is you find them 3 months later with the lawn mower.........




BatCat

[Assassin Pilot]

You also only need the smallest mp3 players cause you can listen to the same song over and over again and not get tired of it.

And you can host your own surprise birthday party.... assuming you remember your birthday

[Beo]

This is what his class has studied, we went over this at home before he did his part of the report, its chemical not nuclear.
The XYTEL CORPORATION 1001 Cambridge Drive Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Chemical reactors are shrinking to notebook and even credit card size. The technology offers a safer way to produce some toxic materials—but it could be deadly in the wrong hands, experts warn. "Micro-reactors" convert chemicals—for example a fuel cell micro-reactor may be able to turn methanol into hydrogen to power a car—in much the same way a building-size chemical recator does, only on a smaller scale. The tiny reactors are not easily obtainable, and the chemicals used in them can be highly unstable. As a result, experts say, they aren't the most practical but can power a three city block area or even a large industrial plant. Micro-reactor technology is still in its infancy, but the technology offers a suite of valuable benefits. The ultraefficient systems offer a safer working environment for hazardous materials. Everything is in small quantities and in a small reactor, so that, even if you do have some kind of leak, it can be contained.
MULTI MICRO REACTOR UNITS

HIGH THROUGHPUT
Catalyst evaluation units for the refining and petrochemical industries have been a mainstay of Xytel’s product line throughout it’s 25 year history. Now, to meet the fastpaced demand of researchers today, Xytel is pleased to present its Multi Micro Reactor Unit. The Multi Micro Reactor Unit is
designed specifically for the quick screening analytical methods required to
understand the performance of catalysts in the shortest possible time.
CONSISTENT
The Unit features up to 10 reactors operating in parallel; all at the same
conditions:
Gas and/or liquid feed flow rates
Pressure
Temperature
The Unit features a dedicated, PC based control system, specifically configured for your particular application. They are fully automated, yet modifiable.
FLEXIBILITY
The Multi Micro Reactor Units are intended for the catalytic study of various types of processes. The Units are designed for catalyst screening, evaluation, and kinetic studies. To date, these units have been
considered for isomerization, reforming, oxidation, and some power sources.
Although designed to be as turnkey and compact as possible, the Multi Micro reactor Unit is designed to be adaptable should research plans take a different direction.
TYPICAL SYSTEM SPECS
Reactors : 3 cc catalyst charge
Reactor pressure: to 500 psig
Reactor temperature: to 650 oC
Reactor MOC: 316 stainless steel
Gas flow rate: 2 – 15 sccm
Liquid flow rate: 0.02 – 0.16 g/min
Feeds
Xytel uses a proprietary gas distribution modules to evenly regulate the flow to all of the reactors. The module is designed specifically for each application. When required for a wider range of applications, multiple pre-made, quick loading systems can be provided.
Reactors
To ensure isothermality, the reactors are positioned in a solid metal block which fits into a custom designed isothermal furnace. Multiple sets of the reactor / block assemblies can be provided. When the first set is being run, the operator can get the second set packed and ready for the next
run.
Products
Handling of the reactor effluent depends on the application. All have automatic pressure control. Xytel has designs for the
following:
Gas product: sent to GC.
Gas–liquid product: liquid vaporized and
composite sent to GC.
Gas–liquid product: gas separated, passes through a sampling valve which
directs the reaction stream to the on-line GC

[MedicineWolf]

Alaska Village Moves from Diesel to 'Micro-Nuke'
The small town of Galena, Alaska, is tired to pay 28 cents/kwh for its electricity, three times the national average. Today, Galena "is powered by generators burning diesel that is barged in during the Yukon River's ice-free months," according to Reuters. But Toshiba, which designs a small nuclear reactor named 4S (for "Super Safe, Small, & Simple"), is offering a free reactor to the 700-person village, reports the New York Times (no reg. needed). Galena will only pay for operating costs, driving down the price of electricity to less than 10 cents/kwh. The 4S is a sodium-cooled fast spectrum reactor -- a low-pressure, self-cooling reactor. It will generate power for 30 years before refueling and should be installed before 2010 providing an approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Galena officials met with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. If the commission approves the plan, the reactor would be the first new one permitted in the United States since the early 1980s, according to an Alaska Public Radio Network report on Thursday.
Energy to power electricity is important to Galena. Winter temperatures can dip below minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 51 Celsius). Daylight is scarce because of the short days during the winter. Galena is powered by generators burning diesel that is barged in during the Yukon River's ice-free months. That is costly and carries its own environmental risks because diesel can spill. Toshiba, which designs a new 10-megawatt nuclear reactor, offered to install one of these in the hope that other isolated towns will follow, explains the New York Times. Toshiba offered Galena a free reactor if the town would pay the operating costs, estimated at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, about the national average for power. In December, the City Council voted unanimously to take it. Galena looked at other sources of energy, such as coal, which pollutes, and solar power, but the sun is not very present at this kind of latitude. So it decided to take the nuclear path.
Here are some details about the 4S reactor.
Toshiba calls its design the 4S reactor, for "super-safe, small and simple." It would be installed underground, and in case of cooling system failure, heat would be dissipated through the earth. There are no complicated control rods to move through the core to control the flow of neutrons that sustain the chain reaction; instead, the reactor uses reflector panels around the edge of the core. If the panels are removed, the density of neutrons becomes too low to sustain the chain reaction.
Is this really a Super-Safe nuclear reactor? The design is described as inherently safe, but it does have one riskier feature: It uses liquid sodium, not water, to draw heat away from the core, so the heat can be used to make steam and then electricity.
Designers chose sodium so they could run the reactor about 200 degrees hotter than most power reactors, but still keep the coolant depressurized. (Water at that temperature would make steam at thousands of pounds of pressure a square inch.) The problem is that if sodium leaks, it burns.
Anyway, if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves it -- which could cost millions of dollars to Toshiba -- the 4S reactor could be installed by
2010. It will use uranium enriched to 20 percent and generate power for 30 years before needing to be disposed of and replaced. If you're really interested by this 4S reactor to be installed in Galena, you should read "Public Information and Outreach in Galena, Alaska," a document prepared by the Washington, D.C., firm Shaw Pittman LLC (PDF format, 20 pages, 360 KB). The above images come from this document.

Sources: Reuters, February 3, 2007; Matthew L. Wald, The New York Times, via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 3, 2007; Shaw Pittman LLC, March 23, 2007

[MedicineWolf]

Matbe Toshiba just ain't telling anyone about it, but in America, everything leaks. Just hope this doesn't.

Alaska Town Seeks Reactor to Cut Costs of Electricity
By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: February 3, 2007

ASHINGTON, Feb. 2 - The tiny town of Galena, Alaska, which pays three times as much for electricity as the national average, is considering a novel way to cut that cost by two-thirds: a tiny nuclear reactor.
On Wednesday the town manager and a deputy mayor sat down here with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to learn how a plant is licensed. They talked about their current logistics to obtain power - shipping diesel fuel in by barge during the brief window when the Yukon River is not frozen over - and their efforts to find an alternative.

There is a coal seam about 10 miles away. But no one builds coal plants that are small and clean enough, said the manager, Marvin Yoder, and the cost of permits to open a new mine might make the whole project impractical. The town even looked at solar power, Mr. Yoder said. But demand in Galena is highest in winter, when it is dark 20 hours a day, and residents need electricity to keep cars and even diesel fuel from freezing.

But then along came Toshiba, which performs maintenance and repair work on conventional nuclear reactors around the world. The company is trying to develop a new reactor that would run almost unattended and put out 10 megawatts of power, about 1 percent as much as a typical United States plant. It sees Galena as a test market for a product that could appeal to other isolated small towns, factories and mines. Toshiba offered Galena a free reactor if the town would pay the operating costs, estimated at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, about the national average for power. In December the City Council voted unanimously to take it. Comparing oil, coal and nuclear, Mr. Yoder said, "As long as it operates as projected, it is the cleanest of the three." He called the reactor "the least expensive of the options." Tom Johnson, the deputy mayor, said the town, 550 miles northwest of Anchorage, may have unpaved streets and only 700 people, but it is not unsophisticated. The manager of the municipal water plant once served on a nuclear submarine, he said, and he and others are attracted to the idea of a reactor.

"Anybody who's been on a sub or an aircraft carrier, they love them," he said. In good Alaskan fashion, he was dressed in short-sleeved shirt and said he was enjoying Washington's 40-degree afternoon weather. It was minus 40 back home, he said.

An Air Force base uses most of the town's electricity. While giant corporations in the lower 48 states pursue new designs and preliminary applications for permission to build new reactors, and hope to break ground by about 2010, Galena hopes it could have a micro-reactor up and running by then. Toshiba calls its design the 4S reactor, for "super safe, small and simple." It would be installed underground, and in case of cooling system failure, heat would be dissipated through the earth. There are no complicated control rods to move through the core to control the flow of neutrons that sustain the chain reaction; instead, the reactor uses reflector panels around the edge of the core. If the panels are removed, the density of neutrons becomes too low to sustain the chain reaction.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it knows nearly nothing about the 4S. Paul Lohaus, director of the office of state and tribal affairs, who presided at the three-hour meeting, said it cost "tens of millions of dollars" for the commission to evaluate a reactor design. Mr. Yoder's face froze. "But that bill goes to the manufacturer," Mr. Lohaus added. Mr. Yoder said the town was interested in seeking early site approval, but that would cost millions of dollars. He said he hoped for a grant.

The reactor would run on uranium enriched to 20 percent. That would allow it to run for 30 years without refueling, the designers say. In larger reactors operated by utilities, one-third of the fuel is replaced every 18 months or so.
The design is described as inherently safe, but it does have one riskier feature: it uses liquid sodium, not water, to draw heat away from the core, so the heat can be used to make steam and then electricity. Designers chose sodium so they could run the reactor about 200 degrees hotter than most power reactors, but still keep the coolant depressurized. (Water at that temperature would make steam at thousands of pounds of pressure a square inch.) The problem is that if sodium leaks, it burns.

While the town of Galena has listed a reactor as its preferred option, some of its neighbors sound a little wary. A representative of the Yukon River Intertribal Watershed Council, an organization of 58 tribal governments, was patched in to the meeting by telephone. One tribe is trying to enact a ban on transportation of radioactive material on the river. This would doom the plan.

[Assassin Pilot]

I would be interested in making some very small sort of oil-powered reactor. That would be very interesting to design and make, I already have some good sketches draw out and know the basics of how it would work.

My current plan is to use a piston of sorts to utilize the heat generated, but I have had little success with that (each time I run out of super-glue ). Since it is so small screws and welding won't work well.

[Rick]

Oil powered reactor. So you stay dependent on foreign oil AND have to deal with toxic refuse. Cool!

[crashdive123]

Isn't an oil powered reactor a car engine?

[Rick]

Not when it's made with super glue. It's called junk right after you hit the starter.

[trax]

Not when it's made with super glue. It's called junk right after you hit the starter.

Really? (Putting superglue back on shelf...grumble grumble...back to the ol' drawing board)

[Tony uk]

Not when it's made with super glue. It's called junk right after you hit the starter.

Nope, its called junk when it melts in the sun

[Assassin Pilot]

Oil powered reactor. So you stay dependent on foreign oil AND have to deal with toxic refuse. Cool!

Well me being foreign I could care less, but it is gunna be powered by Canola oil (my mom uses it for cooking most) so that is easily accessible for me. And that's from Canada so I suppose it helps a bit.

But it's not gunna be used as an engine to power anything, more of as a hobby so I can say to myself "I made my own mini engine" and feel proud

And the fact that I plan on using a match as the starter says a bit about it as well

[Rick]

You import 333,400 barrels per day there foreigner, according to the World Fact Book. Proven oil reserves 0. Nada. Electricity imports, 17.92 billion kWh. Looks like someone has Suomen tasavalta/Republiken Finland by the soft and tenders. But you could care less, huh?