Normally, we like to cover real gadgets here at The Gadgets Weblog, but occasionally, it's worthwhile to cover a gadget that's clearly a fake. A blog called Next Energy News leaks a story about Toshiba building a "Micro Nuclear Reactor" that would be nothing short of a miracle.

The 200 kilowatt Toshiba designed reactor is engineered to be fail-safe and totally automatic and will not overheat. Unlike traditional nuclear reactors the new micro reactor uses no control rods to initiate the reaction. The new revolutionary technology uses reservoirs of liquid lithium-6, an isotope that is effective at absorbing neutrons. The Lithium-6 reservoirs are connected to a vertical tube that fits into the reactor core. The whole whole process is self sustaining and can last for up to 40 years, producing electricity for only 5 cents per kilowatt hour, about half the cost of grid energy.

This story got picked up by Dvorak Uncensored, Engadget, Gizmodo, Wired, and others. Strangely, I could find no mention of this on Toshiba's main corporate site, and I know they do some stuff with nuclear reactors in Japan.

Eventually, someone actually asked Toshiba about it and confirmed it was a hoax. Oh well, so much for my dreams of a neighborhood reactor. Another example of blogosphere truth versus the real truth.
See full article.

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Nuclear from the Inside - Nuclear from the Outside - 01 May 2006

Reactor Types - 03 June 2006

Micro-Bio-Reactor - 23 October 2006

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