Bill Gates goes nuclear in Toshiba mini-reactor JV

Can Bill Gates and Toshiba save us from global warming? They plan a miniature traveling-wave nuclear reactor in every home, to spell the end of climate change. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers get up and atom. [You're fired -Ed.]

By Richi Jennings. March 24, 2010.
(6502) (MSFT)

Your humble blogwatcher selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention Nature by Numbers...
 
 
Aunty Beeb shall speak peace unto nations:

Mr Gates' TerraPower and Toshiba are investigating technology for ... a new generation of ... mini-reactors, which are more cost-efficient than conventional units ... suitable for use in cities or emerging-market countries. ... Mr Gates could put tens of millions of dollars of his own money into a joint venture with Toshiba.
...
Mini-reactors could last up to 100 years without refuelling. ... So-called travelling-wave reactors (TWRs) ... use depleted uranium as fuel. ... The two sides have begun to "exchange information" but "nothing concrete has been decided on development or investment," ... [said] a Toshiba spokesman.

Addy Dugdale adds color:

Bill Gates is going atomic. ... Traveling-wave ... reactors run on depleted uranium, rather than the enriched sort found in light-water reactors ... are small enough to fit in a hot tub. ... Part of Gates' quest for zero carbon emissions in the next 40 years.
...
The technology will not be commercially available for the next decade or so. ... Gates might invest several billion dollars of his own fortune in the project.

Vladislav Savov' gone fission:

Toshiba hasn't given up on its dream of producing a nuclear reactor for the home. ... Run by a former Microsoft exec and partially funded by Bill Gates himself, TerraPower is said to have opened ... discussions with Toshiba regarding a ... joint venture.
...
The aim is, predictably, to make safer, smaller, more socially acceptable, and just plain better reactors. ... Bill Gates has gotten enthusiastic enough about the whole thing to give a ... talk on the matter. [Skip to 13'20 if you're busy]

Although Matt Buchanan sounds a bit jaded:

Of course, these safer, cheaper and awesomer reactors are years and years away from actually being developed. Still, Bill Gates + nuclear power sounds kind of nerdsexy ... even if you're ambivalent about what Intellectual Ventures actually does.

But why Toshiba? confused one isn't confused:

It makes sense for Toshiba to work with them given (a) Their ownership of the Westinghouse legacy (b) Their experience building large nuclear power reactors (c) Their experience designing small, self contained, fail-safe nuclear reactors in the 100kW to 10MW size range.

Meanwhile, Chris Dudley makes the obligatory Cherenkov radiation joke:

The blue glow of death.... Who better than Bill to distribute it?

So what's your take?
Get involved: leave a comment.
 
 
And finally...

• Nature by Numbers
  [hat tip: PeaceLove, via Cory Doctorow]

 

Â

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him as @richi on Twitter, or richij on FriendFeed, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itblogwatch@richij.com.

 
 
Don't miss out on IT Blogwatch:

• Subscribe to the Computerworld Blogs and IT Blogwatch newsletters
• Catch up with posts from the previous few days