Mini Nuclear Power Plants to be available by 2013

According to an article in the Guardian UK, a small nuclear power plant the size of a garden shed with sufficient power generation to supply 20,000 homes will soon be for sale. The reactors will be factory-sealed with no weapons-grade material, no moving parts, and installed in a poured concrete casing buried underground. The $25 million reactor if installed in a 10,000 home community would cost the members of the community’s electrical co-op $2,500 each. Since they need to be refueled every seven years, let’s assume that would be another $25 million every 7 years. The ongoing cost for power generation works out to roughly $357 annual for each home, or about $30 monthly. I don’t know the cost structure for typical power generation facilities, so I don’t know how this compares with them, but even including the cost of 24/7 security, administrative support, and electrical construction/repair crews, it seems this would drastically reduce electrical costs throughout most of the world. See the Hyperion Power Generation website for more.