Hyperion Power Generation and the Nuclear Power Module

A company called Hyperion Power Generation Inc has developed a kind of nuclear battery, just about the size of a small shed, that can power twenty thousand homes. Hyperion is already taking orders and will be delivering in five years.

The nuclear battery, or as Hyperion Power Generation calls it the nuclear power module, is based on mature technology developed by the Los Alamos Laboratory. Each nuclear power module has a uranium hydride core, surrounded by a hydrogen atmosphere. Attached to a steam turbine, each nuclear power module can supply enough energy for twenty thousand homes or the industrial equivalent.

Hyperion Power Generation claims that a nuclear power module can be delivered to its site on the back of a truck, buried, and sealed in concrete. The nuclear power module has no moving parts, is not susceptible to meld down accidents as are conventional nuclear reactors, and cause no greenhouse emissions. The nuclear fuel is secure and, in any case, not suitable to being turned into weapons grade material. Refueling takes places every seven to ten years. The nuclear power module produces waste "the size of a soft ball" that can be reprocessed into nuclear fuel.

At a twenty seven megawatt capacity, the Hyperion nuclear power module has the power generation capability five times the amount of the largest wind turbine. The Hyperion nuclear power module has the advantage over wind or solar in the fact that it continues to provide power even when there is no wind or sunshine. Hyperion Power Generation claims that the cost of electricity generated by one of its nuclear power modules is ten cents a kilowatt hour.

Hyperion Power Generation has orders for a hundred of the nuclear power modules, largely from industrial customers. But Hyperion suggests that its nuclear power module would be suitable for residential use, especially for isolated communities that are difficult to connect to a power grid. Hyperion is ramping up to produce four thousand of the nuclear power modules between 2013 and 2023.

On the face of it, Hyperion Power Generation seems to have developed an elegant solution to the world's energy needs. The nuclear power module can provide electricity at a cost comparable to many conventional sources. The nuclear power module lacks many of the environmental costs of fossil fuels and some of the drawbacks of other alternative energy technologies. Hyperion Power Generation seems to have answered some of the more pressing critiques of conventional nuclear power, including nuclear waste issues, nuclear proliferation, and the dangers of accidents.

Nevertheless, Hyperion Power Generation likely faces some political and bureaucratic hurdles in the marketing of its nuclear power modules. The word "nuclear" tends to elicit an emotional response in certain quarters that brings to mind memories of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The United States has just elected an administration that has expressed hostility toward nuclear technology of any sort.

Nevertheless, in countries that are more sensible about nuclear technology, Hyperion Power Generation seems to have come up with a way to provide energy at a reasonable cost without many of the environmental drawbacks. The fact that a private company has done this should be a sober lesson for politicians and bureaucrats who are struggling to develop energy policies.

Sources: Hyperion Power Generation

Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes, John Vidal and Nick Rosen, The Guardian, November 9th, 2008