FreeTroll.com

Heritage.org recently posted about a new nuclear reactor that is set to come online in 2013. About the size of a hot tub, it can power around 20,000 homes with an output of 25MW. Compare this to the recently opened solar array in Spain that powers the same amount of homes, yet requires 100 hectares (247 acres) of sunny land to spread it’s sails. Also compare this to the windmills Mr. Pickens is proposing. According to Wikipedia, the largest windmills produce about 6MW of power, but are massive (650 feet tall). It would take four of these huge machines to match the output of a single nuclear “hot tub”.

Wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine, but nuclear power runs 24/7. These units could be installed in almost any location thereby reducing the need for additional expensive and property-invasive transmission lines.

Seems like something we should all be aware of. A simple vote on freeing up more oil in the near term is needed now, coupled with some uncommon Progress by a historically restrictive Congress to allow private companies to go ahead with innovations like these nuclear “hot tubs”. This type of nuclear innovation needs to be a part of our “all of the above” energy solutions and would help put America back on top in the energy arena. We’ve spent a lot of time and money as tax payers to build our nuclear know-how in the U.S.A. Let’s put that know-how to work for us.