New mini-nuke plants look promising

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a must-read article on the potential of the new small-scale nuclear power plants. Says author, Bob Metcalfe, they have solved all the problems of the old, control-rod style nuclear plants and the new reactors are small enough to fit on a large kitchen table. He likens them to “nuclear batteries.”

There’s a lot to like here, although the details on the amount of nuclear waste were not provided. Metcalfe, a venture capitalist, says the big problem is the $100 million and five years it requires to get the designs approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That’s a lot to ask of any venture capitalist trying to make a buck.