Daisey-chain 16 of these units together and Presto!...power problem solved!

It’s a device that could change energy options around the planet: A company called Hyperion Power Generation claims that its miniature nuclear reactors could power anything from water purifiers in developing world villages to oil extraction sites in the remote Arctic tundra to army outposts in the desert.

One reactor, which would cost about $25 million, would produce 25 megawatts of energy, enough to provide electricity for 20,000 average American-sized homes or a major industrial project. Daisy-chained, these micro-reactors, each one about twice the size of an average man, can supply enough electricity to power an entire small city or suburb [The Cutting Edge News]. The company says that its nuclear system is safe and clean, as it produces no greenhouse gases, and claims the reactors will be ready for mass production in five years.

Hyperion’s chief executive, John Deal, says the company already has more than 100 firm orders, largely from the oil and electricity industries, but says the company is also targeting developing countries and isolated communities. “It’s leapfrog technology,” he said…. The first confirmed order came from TES, a Czech infrastructure company specialising in water plants and power plants. “They ordered six units and optioned a further 12. We are very sure of their capability to purchase,” said Deal. The first one, he said, would be installed in Romania. “We now have a six-year waiting list. We are in talks with developers in the Cayman Islands, Panama and the Bahamas” [The Guardian].

Hyperion’s nuclear reactors are about the size of a garden shed, and could be delivered by truck. To defuse safety concerns, the factory-sealed units will be buried underground, and will use a weak form of nuclear fuel that the company says could only be enriched into weapons-grade material by a nation with the most sophisticated nuclear technology. The system, which Hyperion refers to as a “big battery,” would need to be refueled every five to ten years, a process the company says it would deal with at its factory.

The company has competition in the brand new mini-reactor industry: Toshiba is reportedly working on a small-scale design for Galena, Alaska. NuScale Power, a startup spawned in the nuclear engineering department at Oregon State, was the first U.S. company to submit plans to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which regulates all domestic nuclear power plants [Investor's Business Daily].

Initial "Launch" Design for Hyperion Power Module announced today at Winter Conference of American Nuclear Society in Washington, D.C. and London's "Powering Toward 2020" Conference

WASHINGTON, D.C., and LONDON, ENGLAND, November 18, 2009 — At the Annual Winter Conference of the American Nuclear Society in Washington today, and simultaneously at the "Powering Toward 2020" conference in London, England, Hyperion Power Generation Inc. revealed the design for the first version of the Hyperion Power Module (HPM) that it intends to have licensed and manufactured at facilities in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

The HPM is a safe, self-contained, simple-to-operate nuclear power reactor, which is small enough to be manufactured en masse and transported in its entirety via ship, truck, or rail. Euphemistically referred to as a "fission battery," the HPM will deliver 70 megawatts of thermal energy, or approximately 25 megawatts of electricity. This amount of energy is enough to supply electricity to 20,000+ average American-style homes or the industrial/commercial equivalent. "In response to market demand for the HPM, we have decided on a uranium nitride-fueled, lead bismuth-cooled, fast reactor for our ‘launch' design," said John R. Grizz Deal, Hyperion Power's CEO. "For those who like to categorize nuclear technologies, we suppose this advanced reactor could be called a Gen IV++ design."

The design that Hyperion Power intends to have licensed and manufactured first will include all of the company's original design criteria, but is expected to take less time for regulators to review and certify than the initial concept created by Dr. Otis "Pete" Peterson during his tenure at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "We have every intention of producing Dr. Peterson's uranium hydride-fueled reactor; it is an important breakthrough technology for the nuclear power industry," noted Deal. "However, in our research of the global market for small, modular nuclear power reactors – aka SMRs – we have found a great need for the technology. Our clients do not want to wait for regulatory systems around the globe, to learn about and be able to approve a uranium hydride system. A true SMR design, that delivers a safe, simple and small source of clean, emission-free, robust and reliable power is needed today – not years from now. As we construct and deploy this launch design, we will continue to work towards licensing Dr. Peterson's design."

Kept quiet until today, this initial design for the company's small, modular, nuclear power reactor (SMR) is the first of several that have been under co-development with staff from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Hyperion Power's market goals include the distribution of at least 4,000 of its transportable, sealed, self-contained, simple-to-operate fission-generated power units. Offering a cost-efficient source of clean, emission-free, baseload energy, the HPM will provide crucial independent power for military installations; heat, steam and electricity for mining operations; and electricity for local infrastructure and clean water processes in communities around the globe. More information can be found at the company's web site:

http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/news.html