I have written about Hyperion Power Generation (HPG) several times before, and some people may think I am getting repetitive. The story, however, continues to fascinate me because the leaders of the company are thinking more like biotech or traditional computer/communications tech startup companies than traditional nuclear suppliers.

Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to talk with John (Grizz) Deal for The Atomic Show Podcast. We had a very interesting chat, but I did not get into the business aspects of the development as much as a more recent interview conducted by Techrockies after watching a Hyperion presentation at the Venture Capital in the Rockies Fall Conference.

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In addition to my efforts on Green Options publications like CleanTechnica, I also publish a blog titled Atomic Insights. On that blog, I have recently been engaged in a conversation with a reader named Gordon, who is a believer in the energy supply systems that Amory Lovins has been advocating for more than 35 years. I addressed this response to Gordon, but it is a more generally applicable response for anyone who wants to follow the non-nuclear “soft energy path”.

Gordon:

One thing you apparently do not understand about nuclear fission is that it can come in a variety of sizes. Not all plants are the extra large central station power plants that you are discussing.

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Hyperion Power Generation issued a press release on August 12, 2008 announcing that their first customer had signed a letter of intent (LOI) to purchase 6 Hyperion Power Modules^TM (HPM), which the company describes as “a small, compact, transportable, nuclear power reactor”.

Each HPM will be priced at approximately $25 million. The company did not disclose an expected shipping date for the first HPM, but the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission currently lists their scheduled manufacturing license review as starting in 2012 with an projected completion sometime in 2015. (Ref - Periodic Briefing on New Reactor Issues dated February 20, 2008 - PDF.)

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One of Al Gore’s frequently used sound bites to explain his skepticism about the potential for nuclear power to address energy and climate change challenges is that the plants come in only one size - “extra large”. The last time I heard him say those words was during an interview by Katie Couric just a [...]

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