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General Atomics’ $40-million gamble on small nukes

Christina Back, General Atomics vice president of nuclear technologies and materials, in the company’s composites lab. “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. Just building a prototype, Back said, is at least 10 years away, and “we’re looking at 2030-ish” before a commercial reactor could be operational using EM² technology. “We’re using new technologies that allow us to make the core much more compact and we would put it underground for added safety,” Back said. NRDC senior scientist Matthew McKinzie said that even though he considered the EM² design “laudable” in its goals to reduce nuclear waste and improve safety, “our perspective is that energy efficiency technologies and renewable technologies have proven to be a faster, more cost-efficient, scaleable, reliable solution to address climate change.” Back disagrees.

LA Times
General Nuclear Electricity Plants Nuclear Power Gas Power Natural Gas California Plant Reactor General Atomics Technologies Atomics Nuclear Technologies Mckinzie Christina Back Em² Em² Technology
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