Clean, Safe Energy Without Socialism, High Taxes

I recently promised some of my close friends that I would provide them with an update on the company that makes small, self-contained and SAFE nuclear reactor generators.

Then I forgot about it.

Thanks to Blogmaster over at Fried Green Onions, however, I have remembered and am posting a link to the Hyperion site HERE.

I realize that the old dinosaur power company politics and the radical Greens will fight Hyperion tooth and nail to keep them from gaining any traction.

But Common Sense dictates that the rest of us fight back. Educate ourselves and others. Stand up for a clean, green technology whose time has come!

From the Hyperion web site: (Please read carefully)

... until now — until Hyperion, nuclear power and the many benefits it offers: clean, emission-free, affordable energy — was only available from large, expensive nuclear power plants that took 10 years or more to build. And, many locations that could have benefited from nuclear power were not appropriate — the land was not available or the population was not large enough to warrant a huge power plant.

Invented at the famed Los Alamos National Laboratory, Hyperion small modular power reactors make all the benefits of safe, clean nuclear power available for remote locations. For both industrial and community applications, Hyperion offers reliable energy with no greenhouse gas emissions. Hyperion power is also cheaper than fossil fuels and, when you consider the cost of land and materials, watt to watt, Hyperion’s innovative energy technology is even more affordable than many developing “alternative” energy technologies.

Small enough to be transported on a ship, truck or train, Hyperion power modules are about the size of a "hot tub" — approximately 1.5 meters wide. Out of sight and safe from nefarious threats, Hyperion power modules are buried far underground and guarded by a security detail. Like a power battery, Hyperion modules have no moving parts to wear down, and are delivered factory sealed. They are never opened on site. Even if one were compromised, the material inside would not be appropriate for proliferation purposes. Further, due to the unique, yet proven science upon which this new technology is based, it is impossible for the module to go supercritical, “melt down” or create any type of emergency situation.

If opened, the very small amount of fuel that is enclosed would immediately cool. The waste produced after five years of operation is approximately the size of a softball and is a good candidate for fuel recycling. Perfect for moderately-sized projects, Hyperion produces only 25 MWe — enough to provide electricity for about 20,000 average American sized homes or its industrial equivalent. Ganged or teamed together, the modules can produce even more consistent energy for larger projects.

If I were a member of a rural electric cooperative, or on the board of one of those municipal utilities, or even on the board of some big outfit like AEP, I would be demanding to know why we weren't investing in this technology.

If one unit provides enough electricity to continuously power 20,000 homes (refueled every five to seven years), and it's safe, think of the possibilities. At $25-$30 million per unit, you are talking a cost of as little as $250 per home per year, or $20.86 per month. Very affordable.

But the people who want to control our lives by creating a super-grid run by super-computers do not want these stand alone units, never mind that they would solve the (non-existent) greenhouse gas problem.

And never mind that it was federal research facilities at Los Alamos that developed this safe technology. We finally get something usefully peaceful out of our nuclear program, and the Progressives don't want to let us have access to it! They are being perfectly consistent. Horses' rear ends.

I'm sure General Electric hates Hyperion, but good ideas, like Edison's old incandescent light bulb, have a way of catching on with a free people regardless of the entrenched special interests plying Congress and the White House with who knows what kind of money and perks.

Keep your eye on Hyperion, and be sure to tell your friends.

UPDATE -- Here's the link to an interview with Hyperion's Chief Executive Officer. Well worth reading.

Money quote: "You can't turn our fuel into a bomb. You'd have to re-enrich, re-process the fuel, so you might as well start with yellowcake. That's one of the neat safety features of our reactor. For nefarious purposes, our reactor has absolutely no value whatsoever. "

A lot to like here.