UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
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UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
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Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#2Are size and efficiency the most pressing issues to solve in nuclear power? I don't know a thing about nuclear issues but from the layperson's perspective, it seems like security is the biggest problem that keeps nuclear power from being used everywhere. These containers are essentially dirty bombs without detonators and must be protected as such. This might work for the military, where you could secure one on a restricted section of a FOB, but how would this work for a small town in Alaska, as the article suggests? Securing the site is only half of the problem, too. You also have to secure the supply chain for the nuclear material, as well as the disposal. The cost of disposal is another challenge. Imagine the difficulties of transporting the spent fuel from the Alaskan village.
These guys have a big challenge ahead of them but it would be quite awesome if they can pull it off. Prime power generation and the supply chain issues that its fuel entails is a huge and extremely expensive problem for the military. If you could safely build this in a CONEX, that would be impressive.
Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#3Are size and efficiency the most pressing issues to solve in nuclear power? I don't know a thing about nuclear issues but from the layperson's perspective, it seems like security is the biggest problem that keeps nuclear power from being used everywhere. These containers are essentially dirty bombs without detonators and must be protected as such. This might work for the military, where you could secure one on a rest…
Commercial power reactors are very expensive initially (multiple billions). This is a huge barrier to entry for most power plants. So the thinking is if the size can be reduced so can the cost.
The military is interesting because they already have small reactors in submarines and ships. And they have access to the highest grade fuel because they don't have to follow power plant regulations. So it seems like if these modular reactors would be useful to them, they could easily adapt these reactors for land use.
This startup is hard to gauge because there's so few actual details about their design. For example, how are they going to use thorium as a fuel? You can't just use thorium without a strong neutron starter source or some other fuel engineering.
Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#4- Nuclear-powered electricity source
- Touted as a "battery"
- Solid state
- Can be cooled by heatpipes and ambient air
- Can use multiple fuels
- Cheap
- Small
I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that they're commercializing a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (or multiple connected in a series), like the ones sitting abandoned all over the former Soviet Union (and occasionally spewing radiation when some fool disassembles them for scrap metal)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_gen...
Note that it's also touted as "Always On", probably whether you like it or not, because you can't switch radioactive decay on and off.
Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#5So in 5 years it will be possible to buy a nuclear box that can power 2,000 homes?
I bet there will be "startup cities" made from scratch using these containers that will power a small community and help people live off the grid. Sounds like something I'd be down to try out
Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#6I really think it's awesome that all the latest YC backed start ups seem like they can make this world a better place, as opposed to being some electronic variant of "Bread and Circus" (http://jolieodell.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/bread-and-circuse...)
Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#7Hmm. 2MW/reactor means you'd need 500 of the things knocking about the country to equal one regular power station. Not that great for keeping things secure.
Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#8- Nuclear-powered electricity source - Touted as a "battery" - Solid state - Can be cooled by heatpipes and ambient air - Can use multiple fuels - Cheap - Small I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that they're commercializing a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (or multiple connected in a series), like the ones sitting abandoned all over the former Soviet Union (and occasionally spewing radiation when some fool disassem…
The article gives the impression that it uses turbines not thermocouples.
Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#9It's really nice to see non web based startups.
Re: UPower (YC S14) Is Building Nuclear Batteries
#10Are size and efficiency the most pressing issues to solve in nuclear power? I don't know a thing about nuclear issues but from the layperson's perspective, it seems like security is the biggest problem that keeps nuclear power from being used everywhere. These containers are essentially dirty bombs without detonators and must be protected as such. This might work for the military, where you could secure one on a rest…
> essentially dirty bombs without detonators and must be protected as such.
No, it's completely wrong. That's not how a nuclear plant works. And as you can see, a nuclear plant does not "explode" when it goes amok. The chain reaction is very tightly controlled and there are multiples redundancies in case things don't work as expected.