Toshiba Wants to Market 10 MW Mini-Reactor to US Market

Toshiba has developed a safe mini-reactor design producing 10 MW suitable for powering military bases and isolated towns. It is designed to operate with minimal supervision safely. Large corporations such as Toshiba may be the only ones who can afford the exorbitant application fees for new reactor licensing in the US.

Toshiba Corp. is developing an ultra-compact reactor with an output of about 10,000 kilowatts and has started procedures for approval in the United States, the Nikkei business daily said.

The new reactor, the Toshiba 4S, is designed to minimise the need for monitoring and maintenance, with an automatic shutdown function to ensure safety in case of problems, the newspaper said.

Toshiba plans to market the reactor first in the United States, while foreseeing demand from emerging countries in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe as well as in Africa, it said. _AFP

Mitsubishi and Hitachi are also planning to market new designs for smaller than standard sized reactors.

If the US NRC ever gets its act together, nuclear expansion in the US market may anchor a larger worldwide growth of newer, safer generations of reliable baseload nuclear power.