Micro and small nuclear reactors

Very intereresting; full site is here and it leads with the text below:

More than 50 new small and medium size reactor designs were developed and are being considered by research groups around the world in 2006.

There are a number of small and medium nuclear reactors that are in funded development.

Toshiba has designs for a micro nuclear reactor that generates 200 kw for 40 years

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. It has dimensions of 20 feet by 6 feet.

Toshiba expects to install the first reactor in Japan in 2008 and to begin marketing the new system in Europe and America in 2009.