Traditional nuclear reactor technology is robust and efficient—and unfortunately, expensive. Major cost overruns, sometimes in the billions of dollars, and significant construction delays are typical in large nuclear facility construction. Projects carry risk for investors, and more than once have threatened the ordering power generation utilities with bankruptcy. Nuclear power generation has moved from a technology that carries safety risks to one that carries financial risks. The Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Energy Impact Center has developed a nuclear reactor design that promises to de-risk nuclear power production in a novel way: with an open-source design.

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