“An energy start-up backed by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates is in discussions with Toshiba Corp. on developing a small-scale nuclear reactor that would represent a long-term bet to make nuclear power safer and cheaper,” Robert A. Guth and Daisuke Wakabayashi report for The Wall Street Journal.
“Toshiba said it is in preliminary discussions with TerraPower, a unit of Intellectual Ventures, a patent-holding concern partially funded by Mr. Gates,” Guth and Wakabayashi report. “Intellectual Ventures, based in Bellevue, Wash., is run by a former Microsoft executive, Nathan Myhrvold.”
Guth and Wakabayashi report, “The discussions come as President Barack Obama is trying to spur new investment in nuclear power in the U.S. with over $8 billion in government loan guarantees announced in February.”
“In interviews, Mr. Gates has described the device as being able to run buried deep in the ground without human intervention,” Guth and Wakabayashi report. “The reactor would likely take years to develop and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission doesn’t have a certification process for such reactors.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The guy responsible for the most unstable computer operating system in world history wants to build nuclear reactors? Microsoft Windows Chernobyl 2015®. Use Mac OS X to control the thing, Bill. This isn’t the accounting department down the hall; uptime sounds really important in this case. Swallow your misplaced pride now or we’re all doomed!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Eric H.” for the heads up.]
Always said he reminded me of Mr. Burns.
whole new meaning to blue screen of death?
Wow. 8 billion. That won’t even fund the regulatory agency that will spring up around this project. Maybe Bill should cough up a bit more sofa change and make sure it is done right.
Not your average retirement hobby, nuke reactors is definately taking the road less traveled
Regarding the idiot Obama:
“People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” – Ronald Reagan
Payback Day #1: November 2, 2010
Payback Day #2: November 6, 2012
MDN MW: “power” (gulp, that’s eerie)
God help us all….
If Gates were less of a Luddite, he might focus on funding advanced solar, wind, renewable energy storage and natgas/renewable hybrids instead. He might realize that Obama’s apparent nuclear fascination is likely just a bone thrown to conservatives to get them onboard an overall climate and energy security bill. Both of them have got to realize that every nuke project in the world for decades has run into massive construction delays and cost overruns… The tech just isn’t cost-effective compared to other low-carbon, homegrown energy options. Not much sympathy for Gates here, but’s sad to see either public or private finds being thrown into such an inevitable money pit.
This is a joke, right? Someone’s April Fool’s joke that got published too soon? O_O
According to Vice President Biden, the health care bill is “a big fucking deal.”
He’s right – the American people, those that pay taxes at least, have been fucked.
MDN Magic Word: police
You know, your little quotes you put up there, while I believe are true, would hold more weight if you had started posting it 8 years ago.
Funny how people don’t seem to care if their rights are being trampled upon when a president has an (R) after his name and talks like a hick cause ‘he’s one of us”.
Of course if the R’s retake Congress and the Presidency over the next 2 years, you will feel all warm and fuzzy, all the while not realizing that they are just as liable for the erosion of rights and freedoms in this nation as anyone is.
I just wrote a college research essay on nuclear energy.
It is BAD. All around. And due to several factors it is not as efficient as the proponents would have you beleive.
Nothing can be recycled from the plants, they have to build 100 ton containers to store all of the waste. The nuclear fuel has to be water cooled years after it’s removed from the reactor. If it’s not it will vaporize itself and kill everything in the surrounding area.
The only benefit of nuclear energy is nuclear weapons.
Checkout ‘Gordon Edwards nuclear’. On YouTube
“The guy responsible for the most unstable computer operating system in world history wants to build nuclear reactors?”???????
Don’t bet on it; don’t even think about it.
He and Microsoft must be banned of building anything; anything.
Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot the thing.
Talk about your “China Syndrome”….
First, Bill Gates introduced us to the ‘Blue Screen of Death’, just a few months ago, some technical difficulties at the Steve Ballmer CES Keynote introduced us to the ‘Black Screen of Death’…
Gates re-enters the picture and now he wants to introduce us to the ‘Scorching Yellow, Thermal Nuclear Blazing Molten Lava Red Screen of Death’… talk about your Global Warming!
No Thank You!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”cool cheese” style=”border:0;” />
Nuclear power is only a stop gap to helium 3 and goverment need to set condition that new plants can be reto fitted to process h3. As for the quotes by 2010 anon above right on but we really don’t want to know about your politics. The sooner we have a base on the moon the better, for our survival as a race and the mining of H3. NASA funding cut was a shock but so was the fact they where going back to standard rockets. But they sort of deserved it after not publicly acknowledging what was recorded using ultra high ultraviolet spectrum on mission STS-80.
Oh good, more uranium strip mining around the Grand Canyon to fuel this thing…
bullshit.
Nuclear power is the cleanest and most prevalent form of energy in the universe. The amount of “waste” is insignificant, esp. considering we will one day be able to dispose of all of it 100% cleanly, by sending it to the local area fusion reactor (aka, the sun).
if you are against nuclear power, you are a fscking dope smoking retard who just hates humans and you should kill yourself right now.
Other than his work at Microsoft, I applaud almost everything that Bill Gates does.
Cancel or Allow?
CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL! ….
@the other steve jobs
If Bush proposed Nucelar power, all the Neocons here would applaud the idea.
Nice win today for the Dems and the American people!
NO!! and Iran too!!!
Glowing Green Screen of Death anyone?!!!
Blue Cloud of Death
Hi all, have not posted for a year or so. MDN really needs to get a forum so we can have more discussions.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Sounds a bit of a worry to me about funding Nuclear Rectors. Anyway whats everyones thoughts on the Ipad?
More power to him
I can’t wait to hear the spin: “Safe for sure” and “Where did you want the fallout to go today.”
They will probably want to build them near the nuclear bomb shelters so that they can power them in case there is a nuclear attack from Russia, no wait Cuba, hold on it could be Iran. Then again North Korea could be the threat.
Underground, what a great way to say “We can’t use the sun anymore.”
Ah, the fall of the empire usually stops when it hits the ground. Thanks to Bill it just might go to new depths.
Just think thanks to being “Able to run buried deep in the ground without human intervention” they won’t need to put an off button on the thing. That will save them $1.95 per unit to build. What savings to pass on to the consumers.