Mini nukes...

[Piotrsko]

Afaik there are mini nukes that exist and run contained in a 8'x8'x8' sized building possibly even one here in reno at the university in the lightening lab. Couple in Stockton at Lawrence Livermore. Couple more in (gasp!) oregon at some university nuke test site but they are generally only in the kilowatt output.

Apparently not a lot of radioactivity or waste or even public concern until the anti nukers catch on.

Back in the day, my friend Rosemary from Livermore talked about developing suitcase sized ones but couldn't deal with the heat buildup for the radiator size.

There are micro nukes on pretty much all interplanetary spacecraft

[Autobahnschleicher]

There is a HUGE difference between a nuclear reactor and a radio-thermal-generator...

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

There are micro nukes on pretty much all interplanetary spacecraft

Doesn't need to go that far. What about nuclear submarines?

[Piotrsko]

Those that the navy uses are bigger than a shed, generally.

We didn't define the generation process restrictions, but they both rely on energy being transferred.

[jakobnev]

I don't realy see how smaller nuclear reactors can be more cost effective,

A big problem for conventional nuclear is the long build times, you are paying interest over a decade before you can start getting any returns on investment.

[Piotrsko]

Another problem is costs to move the energy with transmission lines which ain't cheap either. They dont build these things in the middle of a city.