Gen IV

The Explosive Nuclear Question

What would you use to keep next-generation nuclear reactors cool? If you said highly reactive molten sodium, take a bow

It's going to be at least another two decades before any commercial models are built, but researchers are at work designing the Generation IV nuclear reactors. Unlike the generation II and III models now in use that use water to cool and control the fission (preventing runaway reactions, subsequent meltdowns and the environmental apocalypse that would result), the leading contender for cooling material for the Gen IV reactors is molten sodium. Not sodium chloride (plain, unreactive table salt), but sodium metal.

[ Read Full Story ]

PPX: The PopSci Predictions Exchange

RSS Link

New IPO

  • Android Phone By Fall

    Will the first cellphone equipped with Google's new open-source operating system, Android, go on sale by summer's end?

Hot Stocks

  • Life on Mars

    Will the Phoenix lander find verifiable signs of life on the surface of Mars by January 1, 2009?

  • iPhone Killer Arrives

    Will the HTC Touch Diamond arrive in North America by September 31st?

Ready to bet on the future? Start here!

Subscribe for 2 free issues!

may2008_cover.jpg