The Germans seem to have a knack for making old things new again. And, supporters claim, pebble beds are immune to meltdowns. Compare that with today's nuclear power plants, which are 10 times more potent but sometimes take decades to construct and cost billions of dollars. MIT wants to build a test model pebble bed in Idaho. A small experimental unit has just started up in China, and Exelon, the largest nuclear operator in the United States, is funding a pebble bed to be built soon in South Africa.
Backers say the reactors are so safe they can be built near cities.
Not so fast, warns Public Citizen, an activist group founded by Ralph Nader. On behalf of Playboy, Youth Intelligence surveyed 750 men ages 18 to 49 about their electronic gadgets and personal lives. Depends on which Cringely you're talking about. Stephens and IDG eventually settled, though the terms were never disclosed. Cringely says he is in postproduction for a PBS documentary entitled Electric Money.