I've just read an interesting article from the Oct 2011 National...

I've just read an interesting article from the Oct 2011 National Geographic magazine which outlines the construction of next generation nuclear reactors.
They don't use the conventional water cooled uranium fuel rods, but they use 400,000 tenis ball sized pebbles with uranium particles encased in graphite and helium gas is blown thru the reactor pebbles where nuclear fission releases large amounts of energy. It claims 300,000 fuel particles were heated to 2300F and bombarded with neutrons and not a single particle leaked radioactive material - strong evidence of the fuels safety.

cheers,

Ray.

Courtesy of National Geographic.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/visions-now-next#/next/1