While the discussion of restoring some program for expanding our nuclear fission plants is not fusion related, it is important to keep the black outs at bay in the near future until whatever will save us, if anything, shows up.
During WW I, The government took over the railroads under the USRA moniker (United States Railway Administration).
Inorder to secure reliable steam locomotives and standardize parts and performance, a series of inspired designs of USRA type locomotives were put forth. The war ended and the railroads got turned back over to their respective companies. A few roads went ahead and used some of the USRA designs in post war motive power. Most were highly successful in spite of being government designs. Mostly because they were not lavished with a lot of bells and whistles (no pun intended). They were just sound designs set forth to be as efficient as possible and manufacturered like doughnuts.
Likewise, the VW Bug of the post WW II era up to 1972 was a silly little workhorse of a car designed to get simple folk back and forth to work cheaply and efficiently. Parts were vastly interchangable. No matter what you drove in the 50's through the 70's, you would undoubtedly be passed on the highway from time to time by one of those little bugs.
I would hope that in the interest of safety and to keep a raft of manufacturers from either cutting corners or gettign too grandiose, the the Fed might design and test, in conjunction with the power utilities and power plant makers, a VW or USRA type fission reactor design based on the vast knowledge of the fission plants in place and make it relatively low power and bullet proof based on knowledge accumulated over the years in minor and major mishaps within the industry. They should focus on safety first within a certain power range and then make it simple and relatively inexpensive. The spare parts from one plant could be used in a critical emergency to repair or maintain another.
This is about the best we might hope for if the nuclear fission plant bandwagon ever gets rolling again. Naturally, the restoration of spent fuel or dumps sites are a separate issue.
Richard Hull
Created on Sunday, May 20, 2001 12:59 AM EDT by Richard Hull