The prices of traditional, big nuclear power plants have got out of hand, at least in the West. Maybe they are still cheaper in China and Russia, but the ones they build don't fulfill the demands of Western regulations. Unfortunately Finland serves as an example of both of these claims. Earlier this year a new nuclear power plant finally began normal commercial power production. The construction was started in 2005! The thing was supposed to be online a decade ago (actually even earlier but let's be realistic), but it seemed to never get finished and the price became at least two times higher along the way, which is a lot since we are talking about multiple billions. Originally there were supposed to be two new nuclear power plants in Finland, two separate projects, with the second getting the permission for a nuclear power plant in 2010. The now finished one was built by the French, the other was already almost agreed to be built by the Japanese, but suddenly it was switched to Rosatom, with nary an explanation, except for that Russia would actually pay a good chunk of it. Probably scared by the bloating cost of the other project, the Finnish company found that attractive. However, after that the whole thing became a farce. Years went by and the site saw nothing but landscaping and some office buildings erected. The actual power plant saw no work being done because Rosatom couldn't provide the Finnish nuclear/radiation safety official proper documents for the power plant. Ever. Then the open war in Ukraine began, and the deal was obviously no good even in theory. The short story is that Rosatom can't build a nuclear power plant in a Western country because it can't follow and fulfill Western nuclear regulations. This is why the small nuclear plants could be an excellent idea.

Good idea really, and the waste isn't an issue these days, especially not on a small scale like this.

Reminds me of the the Fallout series of games. In that game universe aren't there mini nuclear reactors powering various devices or things, or praps I've made that up, but that's the impression I got! In terms of small nuclear reactors for specific localised use in the real world, then it seems like a reasonable idea as long as it's safe.

Still hoping I'll catch that nuclear powered future that was promised, 100% green energy, all vehicles are electric, airplanes use micro-fusion reactors and can travel around the world without dumping any burnt and unburnt fuel into the atmosphere... One can dream. Until then, at least this development might reduce a bit the amount of carbon being dumped into the atmosphere... so we don't all die fast cooked with +5° average increase, but die cooked slowly with just +3° average increase... Not sure which one is worse, tho.

wavetrex:

Still hoping I'll catch that nuclear powered future that was promised, 100% green energy, all vehicles are electric, airplanes use micro-fusion reactors and can travel around the world without dumping any burnt and unburnt fuel into the atmosphere... One can dream. Until then, at least this development might reduce a bit the amount of carbon being dumped into the atmosphere... so we don't all die fast cooked with +5° average increase, but die cooked slowly with just +3° average increase... Not sure which one is worse, tho.

Worry not, i`m almost finishing my perpetual motion project, then free clean energy for everyone! Just don`t ask me to drive an electric car so soon...:D