Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates and Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO, TOSYY) will jointly lead an effort to develop a next-generation nuclear reactor that can operate for up to 100 years without refueling, The Nikkei reported in its Tuesday morning edition.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates and Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO, TOSYY) will jointly lead an effort to develop a next-generation nuclear reactor that can operate for up to 100 years without refueling, The Nikkei reported in its Tuesday morning edition.

Current light-water reactors require refueling once every several years.

Their joint development efforts will focus on the Traveling-Wave Reactor, or TWR, which consumes depleted uranium as fuel. The reactor design also eliminates the need for control rods, thereby enhancing safety.

The technology is being developed by TerraPower, which is effectively owned by Gates. The U.S. entity, which has evolved from Intellectual Ventures, a technology development company established in 2000, has set its sights on commercializing the advanced reactor in the 2020s. TWRs will likely come in sizes ranging from 100,000 to 1 million kilowatts, which is comparable to many of today's reactors in terms of power output.

Because TerraPower lacks the know-how to manufacture nuclear power equipment, it has decided to work together with Toshiba. The major Japanese nuclear power systems maker has already developed a design for an ultracompact reactor -- known as the Super-Safe, Small and Simple -- that can operate continuously for 30 years.

Toshiba aims to receive approval for its ultracompact 4S design, which has a power output of about 10,000kw, from U.S. authorities this fall and begin construction of the first such reactor as early as 2014. Toshiba estimates that about 80% of the technologies used in the 4S reactor can be applied to the TWR.

One issue for the TWR, however, is developing materials that can withstand nuclear reactions for such long periods of time, a problem that is expected to take more than 10 years to solve. If this effort is successful, Toshiba will likely handle mass production of the reactors.

Gates is expected to use his personal wealth to back the development of TWRs. His investment in the efforts may reach as high as several hundred billion yen.

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