article on Gates that was going around.....

Toshiba, Bill Gates to develop advanced nuclear reactor

Tokyo, March 23 : Toshiba Corp and Microsoft Corp chairman Bill Gates
are to work to develop an advanced nuclear reactor, the Japanese company
said Tuesday.

Its statement confirmed a report earlier Tuesday from Japan's Nikkei business daily, which said Toshiba would provide Gates' company TerraPower with the expertise to manufacture nuclear power equipment.

The joint project would develop a next-generation "travelling-wave reactor," which consumes depleted uranium as fuel and could operate for up to 100 years without refuelling, media reports said. At present, light-water nuclear reactors require refuelling every few years.

Toshiba developed a design for an ultra-compact reactor that can operate continuously for 30 years and is seeking US approval, hoping to begin construction as early as 2014, the Nikkei said without citing sources.

Gates was expected to invest his personal wealth on the development of the new reactor, the Nikkei said.

Toshiba company officials told Japanese media that the two sides had begun to exchange information to see whether they would be able to take advantage of one another's technology.