Galena is a remote town on the Yukon River which survives on fossil fuels that are barged and flown in at very high costs. Roughly a third of all their heat is produced by burning wood. Imagine relying on an ax and a woodstove in a town where temperatures can get down to negative fifty degrees. Galena’s problem isn’t really all that unique as far as rural Alaska goes, many of these remote towns and villages are just so small that it is impractical to build multimillion dollar power plants, pipelines, mines and so forth. What makes Galena unique is not the problem but what they may be doing to solve it.
Toshiba, a Japanese company, has offered to install a twenty five million dollar nuclear reactor free of charge. This reactor is said to be capable of powering Galena for thirty years without recharging and with relatively no maintenance. It is called the Toshiba 4S, the four S’s stand for Super-Safe, Small and Simple. This is a small underground reactor which is cooled with liquid sodium. It would be barged in from Japan and lowered ninety eight feet into the ground into a sealed cylindrical vault, inside of a small nondescript building. Toshiba has offered to install it free as a demonstration of their technology.
This reactor (assuming it works properly) would certainly make life easier for the people of Galena, whose electricity bills can reach into the thousands. Most people avoid using electricity as much as possible because it is simple too expensive. Worrying less about energy would leave them free to pursue other things and make everything cheaper, which would encourage new businesses and economic growth. The Galena city council has already approved of and accepted Toshiba’s offer, but it still has a long and bureaucratic approval process before it can be installed. If the plan is approved than Galena may be enjoying this new power by 2012.
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