The Alaska state legislature has approved $500,000 to fund a study of using nuclear power reactors – perhaps the Toshiba 4S described here a couple of days ago – to replace diesel generators as a source of electricity in remote areas.
Even though Alaska is a large crude oil producer, the residents of the state often pay 3 to 10 times as much per kilowatt hour of electricity as people in the lower 48. This is because diesel engines do not burn crude oil, they burn refined diesel oil. That oil often has to be transported long distances over difficult routes that can be limited in capacity and limited to certain seasons.
Here is an interesting article that provides some of the details. Unfortunately, I am not sure how long the link will be good, but I will check on it and try to find a permanent link.
