Gates and Toshiba to put billions into 100-year reactor

If it turns out that Gates really is an evil genius, we’re all screwed. I mean, first he’ll unleash a plague of hurricanes on the coasts of the world, then he’ll release clouds of mosquitoes all over the newly marshy world, and then he’ll tell all the Windows-running reactors to shut down and he’ll be only power source, running for 100 years off depleted uranium.

But if he’s not… well, then we’re all in for a treat. Because the guy is tackling some seriously heavy issues. The latest is a project with Toshiba and Terrapower to create a nuclear reactor that can run for 100 years on a single charge of fuel. There are currently projects underway to create compact reactors that will run for 30 years, but 50-100 is the goal of the new “traveling-wave” style.

Gates is said to be putting a lot of his own money on the line, and the project should run into the hundreds of billions of yen, which is to say billions of dollars at least. I mean, developing a new breed of nuclear reactor isn’t a thing one does lightly. Well, guys, if this isn’t part of some master plan to rule the world, good job.