We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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A nuke in the basement, next to the washing machine This is the sort of story that must give the anti-proliferation folks nightmares. On a more positive tack, though, it is testimony to the continuing trend towards minaturisation that we see in fields such as computers, engineering and medical technology.
Original link fixed. My apologies.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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So probably another rent seeking scumbag who will aim to take a wonderful technology somewhere ghastly.
Perhaps No Name was just trying to alert you to the fact that the link given requires you to sign into Linkedin. For those of us who can’t be bothered with social networking sites, it’s a bit of a hassle finding the original story from the sparse information given.
This is the direct link, in case anybody’s having trouble:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aPeO.Ce9I64I&pos=12
The proliferation aspects of these mini-reactors is not something that had occurred to me. I suspect that they can be made proof from meltdown or other on-site catastrophes (natural or deliberate), but the notion that a wheeled reactor can be hitched to a tractor and hauled off to the villains lair to have its fuel stolen is a concern. Good news is that these will be Generation IV reactors, supposed to be 100-300 times as fuel-efficient as current reactors. So, given the small size and excellent efficiency of these devices, there will be a rather small amount of fuel in any one of them. How many reactors will villains have to rob to get the material for one bomb?
Hasn’t anyone seen ‘Brazil’?
Anyone who thinks that the state would allow these devices to be freely sold and used, without a staggering level of regulation – is dreaming. It’s for your own good, of course. Nuclear inspectors would be empowered to break into your home at any time to inspect your reactor, and of course anyone delinquent in their child support obligations, or upon conviction of a DUI offence, would have their reactor privileges withdrawn.
I’m looking forward to meeting Harry Tuttle.
llater,
llamas
They are, of course, an excellent idea.
They bring energy security down to the local level. Anyone who wants to shut it down, has to make their case to the people who know where they live…
Can the nuclear Hummer be far behind?
Pity they only produce 25MW. Size in itself isn’t the only story here; they can also get power up and running really fast (in terms of how long it usually takes to build a power plant, really, really fast).
Pretty soon we’re going to need some of that in the UK. I’ll take two.
I’m looking for less than 25MW. Can’t they make a cheap, toaster-sized one that powers just one house? $50 million is rather a lot to get off the grid.
“self-confessed left wing nutbag.”
Well, this guy already has something as simple as politics irreparably wrong. Given such a fundamental error on a relatively easy assessment, I can see no reason whatsoever to have the slightest confidence that anything else he has to offer is valid.
Toshiba and GE? They’re probably trustworthy. Hyperion? Not a chance. Get stuffed, lefty nutbag.