John ‘Grizz’ Deal is the CEO of Hyperion Power Generation. Rod Adams and John Deal talked about the company’s 27 MWe small nuclear heat source and plans for commercializing the technology.
Hyperion Power Generation was formed in 2007 to commercialize a nuclear reactor technology first developed by Otis G. (Pete) Peterson of Los Alamos National Laboratory and patented under US Patent number 2004/0062340 A1.
One of the design criteria driving Peterson was a requirement that the system should be able to fit on a standard over-the-road flat bed truck, a criteria that drove the reactor core design, the shielding design and the system power output.
The Hyperion Power Module is described by company literature as being about the size of a deep hot tub and will produce approximately 70 MW of thermal power. As you will learn if you listen to the interview, the company expects that the cost per unit heat once the systems are in production will be approximately $3 per million BTU – anywhere in the world. Assuming a 90% capacity factor, that leads to an annualized cost of $5.6 million US dollars.
For comparison, the current price of natural gas delivered via pipeline in the US is approximately $8 per million BTU while the cost of fuel oil delivered to remote areas via trucks can be as high as $40 per million BTU assuming that no one is shooting at the trucks. If they are, the cost can really skyrocket.
John and I had a chat that I think you will find very interesting.
If you are interested in pursuing opportunities for employment in the nuclear industry, a good place to start is nuclearenergycareers.com. There, you will learn more about Entergy, one of the more visionary nuclear power plant owner/operators in the US.
Additional information
- Hyperion Announces First Customer For Small Nuclear Reactor
- NuScale Power and Hyperion Power Generation – Nuclear Power Systems That Are Not “Extra Large”
- Hyperion Power Generation announces receipt of its first Letter of Intent (to purchase)
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Nice catch Rod, and a great show. You asked all the questions I have been wanting to put to Hyperion since the announcement.