[DerGilga]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

General Atomics' $40-million gamble on small nukes:

"The scientists and engineers at General Atomics think the future of
nuclear energy is coming on the back of a flatbed truck.

The leadership at the San Diego company, which has been developing
nuclear technologies for more than 60 years, has already spent $40
million in the expectation that its ambitious plans for the next
generation of reactors will actually work.

“We have technology that we think is going to qualitatively change the
game," said Christina Back, vice president of nuclear technologies and
materials at General Atomics.

Called the Energy Multiplier Module, or EM² (EM-squared), the concept
is still in the development stage but promises to produce electricity
more cheaply, safely and efficiently than the nation’s current fleet of
nuclear plants."

See:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...nap-story.html

From the Source:

"It's a material that's like the ceramic in your coffee mug," Back said. "It doesn't melt and that means you can go up to much higher temperatures without failing."

despite what the reactor is made of, the critical point of water remains the same. As such you can't go to higher temperatures without destroying your reactor. I assume people know how a thermic power plant works.

and

Unlike so-called light-water reactors in use, the EM² design uses helium to cool its core, and the inert gas flows through the plant's turbines to make electricity. That eliminates the need to locate a plant near a large water supply, giving EM² the advantage of operating virtually anywhere.

This is beyond stupid.... here the critical point of helium : −239.95 °C (33.20 K) 12.8 atm (1,300 kPa) Source