18 years old successfully designed nuclear reactor

At only 18 years old, American young man Taylor Wilson surprised the nuclear science community when he successfully designed a mini nuclear reactor, capable of burning waste from old atomic weapons to create electricity for households, factories and even for devices operating in space.

Wilson shared his creation at the Technology, Design and Entertainment (TED) Conference held on February 28 in California, USA. He hopes the new design will bring the "old" into the modern technological world of the 21st century and contribute to changing the world.

Taylor Wilson is only 18 years old this year. (Source: zurmat.com)

Wilson's small nuclear reactor is capable of producing 50-100MW of electricity, enough to supply the electricity needs of about 100,000 households. The reactor can be built in a series of installations, running on melted radioactive fuel from old nuclear weapons. Because of its small size, Wilson's reactor is easy to transport.

At the conference, Wilson said: "During the Cold War, we built up huge nuclear arsenals and now we don't need them anymore. It would be great if we could get rid of them and mini nuclear reactors are the key to that."

Wilson said the reactor is designed to run gas turbines instead of steam turbines, meaning it will operate at lower temperatures than typical nuclear reactors and will not release anything harmful in the event of an accident. The fuel is injected in molten salt form, so the reactor does not need to be cooled with pressurized water.

In the event of a malfunction, the operator would simply remove the core from the tank using a neutron capture device and the reaction would automatically stop. In addition to helping curb climate change, Wilson said his design also promises to provide a significant source of electricity for a developing world.

Wilson graduated from high school last May, but decided not to pursue college to focus on starting a company that manufactures modular nuclear reactors.

The young scientist plans to launch a prototype reactor in two years, and a finished product could be officially launched on the market in the next five years./.

According to (TTXVN) - VT