Bill Gates May Build Small Nuclear Reactor 347
Hugh Pickens writes "TerraPower, an energy start-up backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is in discussions with Toshiba Corp. to develop a small-scale nuclear reactor that would represent a long-term bet to make nuclear power safer and cheaper. Toshiba confirmed it is in preliminary discussions with TerraPower, a unit of Intellectual Ventures, a patent-holding concern partially funded by Gates. Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori says the two sides are talking about how they could collaborate on nuclear technology, although discussions are still in early stages and that nothing has been decided on investment or development. TerraPower has publicly said its Traveling Wave Reactor could run for decades on depleted uranium without refueling (PDF) or removing spent fuel from the device. The reactor, the company has said, could be safer, cheaper and more socially acceptable than today's reactors. Gates's recent focus on nuclear power has been fueled by an interest in developing new power systems for developing countries where he says that new energy solutions are needed to combat climate change. Terrapower faces a lengthy, multi-year process to get its "traveling wave" reactor concept reviewed by regulators but if TerraPower succeeds in advancing its plans, it could provide an alternative blueprint for the nuclear industry at a time when new reactors may be coming online."
The blue screen of death... (Score:5, Funny)
...finally.
Re:Oh man (Score:4, Funny)
The bad part is it'll be like japan where his neighbors all have "An error has been detected with your computer and it has been shutdown for your safety...." burned into their skin.
And so it begins (Score:3, Funny)
I have been waiting for years for Bill Gates to start using his money for something in the mad scientist realm we all knew it was coming. . .
Nuclear-powered Bill Gates? (Score:5, Funny)
Cherenkov radiation (Score:5, Funny)
Preparing for standoff with Axis of Evil (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Non story (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Non story (Score:5, Funny)
... or is he?
Tune in next week for the continuation of this exciting episode!
Seems very comic book (Score:3, Funny)
I Don't Know Man (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oblig Windows Ref (Score:2, Funny)
Well, that's what the ALL-CAPS DISCLAIMER texts are for.
Re:Non story (Score:5, Funny)
That's just something a loyal minion would say to cover his/her/its boss evil doings.
I'm stockpiling twinkies.
Re:Cherenkov radiation (Score:2, Funny)
Steve Jobs? Rumor says that his RDF has a faintly glowing, aura-like appearance hardly visible to the eyes of us unwashed, barbarian, infidel freetards... ;)
Re:Cherenkov radiation (Score:5, Funny)
Steve Jobs? Rumor says that his RDF has a faintly glowing, aura-like appearance hardly visible to the eyes of us unwashed, barbarian, infidel freetards... ;)
I believe that glow comes from his halo, you infidel!
Re:Oblig Windows Ref (Score:2, Funny)
isnt there some clause in the windows EULA that specificly prohibites using it in nuclear installation?
and damn, the MS-shills are out in force today, not a single post with a BSOD joke above the -1 level...
Re:Non story (Score:5, Funny)
He's not personally building a reactor like some kind of comic book super villain.
No. That's what the underlings are for. Steve Balmer goes nuclear quite often.
Obvious concern... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Non story (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The blue screen of death... (Score:5, Funny)
Off course not (Score:5, Funny)
Gates tries to make amends, but... (Score:5, Funny)
If one of Bill Gates' projects leads to clean and plentiful energy and saves the world from global warming, it still won't make up for IE6.
Re:Obvious concern... (Score:5, Funny)
. . . and the obligatory: (Score:5, Funny)
"640 volts ought to be enough for anybody. . . "
Re:Preemptive military strike (Score:5, Funny)
He's building a bomb, I tell you! A bomb! Send in the troops right now to stop him.
Running a pirated copy of windows has suddenly become a lot more dangerous.
Re:Not what we need (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I Don't Know Man (Score:4, Funny)
Stark - "Have a drink?"
Bond - "Thank you, Martini sh..."
Stark - "...Shaken but not stirred, I know, Q and I are old friends. By the way, next time you see him, tell him I built something he might like. But for now.." Pours two very large martinis.
Four hours later Bond has his own suit of power armor that looks like a tux and Stark is off chasing skirts.
Live Demonstration coming soon (Score:2, Funny)
It's gonna say, hey I think I got a new device.
It's gonna load the appropriate driver.
You now expect this nuke react.. Wooww!!
Re:Preparing for standoff with Axis of Evil (Score:5, Funny)
He'd have more luck keeping nukes from Iran and North Korea by threatening them with Bing.
Re:Preemptive military strike (Score:5, Funny)
Poppycock. One cannot defeat Googol the Destroyer with mere bombs. This is an attempt by Gatus to deny Googol the Detroyer the power needed to run the antipodal LHC in order to create the bipolar quantum energy conundrum in which Googol will temper the world's data before using it to complete the Rite of a Million Targeted Ads.
When last we saw our heroes [slashdot.org], Gatus and Joba continued in the diverse efforts to thwart Googol the Destroyer. But we saw a new hero rising, in the persona of T-Bone Pickings, who aims to control the world's power supply via creation of wind farms under his control, thereby making fossil-fuel energy obsolete and useless to Googol the Destroyer. It appears that Gatus and Pickings have been coordinating their efforts -- while Pickings is being thwarted by legislators who secretly serve the Dark Master, Gatus has come up with a plan to use small nuclear reactors to make fossil fuels obsolete, thereby denying Googol both the power to run the antipodal LHC and the power upon which his Webcrawling Spiders of Doom feed.
It appears that Googol the Destroyer has been partially thwarted in China -- there may be additional heroes there who we could celebrate, should we ever be able to get information out of the Great Firewall. Can Gatus have the same kind of Legislative and Bureacratic success against Googol the Destroyer here in the United States? Only time will tell.
Meanwhile, rumors circulate that Joba, contrary to popular belief, has not been ill. Rather, he underwent a series of surgeries to enhance his natural charisma, marketing abilities, and since he was under the knife anyway, a titanium-clad skeleton, actuator-enhanced musculature, and a bone-white monochromatic epidermis. Cyber-Joba is now a real force to be reckoned with -- but will his new powers be enough to thwart Googol the Destroyer?
And lest we forget, the roving Druid Stallmanx has ceased roaming for the time being, and spends his days and nights directing the efforts of his Beard Gnomes in his secret laboratory. Just what is he cooking up? Can he reconcile the anarchist developers with the money-grubbing and low-self-esteem developers that Gatus and Joba have converted to the cause of stopping Googol?
All these questions possibly answered, and more, in next week's episode of Googol the Destroyer!
Re:Preemptive military strike (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Cherenkov radiation (Score:5, Funny)
You mean iNfidel.
Re:Preemptive military strike (Score:3, Funny)
Gates is boring (Score:4, Funny)
I don't know, there was something about Gates that always struck me as boring.
He is one of the few people in the world who have access to enormous resources and yet, he just does not do anything with it that I would qualify as fun.
Springer has his cars or maybe he used to, Woz flew airplanes, right? The Virgin guy, this dude Branson, he sounds like a kind of fella who knows how to have fun with the money he made. Airplanes, submarines, space craft! Now that's the kind of stuff I am talking about.
Gates is doing his charity of-course, but common, give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and .... there goes your fishing monopoly. What I mean is, he should be doing something fun with his money before he crocks. What's the point of having all that dough and do nothing exciting with it? Well, maybe he is excited with the charity works, again, I don't know. If I had crazy money, I would definitely build the biggest robots or biggest guns ever or biggest freaking submarine or a Enterprise at Moon's orbit. Something that would be hard and fun to do.
Common, Gates, do something that would show us that money can really cause great amounts of fun. Build a freaking nuclear reactor and attach it to a shark's head or something!
Re:Non story (Score:5, Funny)
I just did!
Oh wait...
Re:Off course not (Score:5, Funny)
And this is better than building a cat and stroking his organ?
Re:Oh man (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Preemptive military strike (Score:5, Funny)
Windows Genuine Advantage has detected that you are running an unregistered version of windows. Your power supply has registered itself as a Travelling Wave Reactor. Your thirty day trial period has now expired, and your Travelling Wave Reactor will begin its self destruct sequence.
Self destruct in
15 minutes...
6 days...
30 seconds...