A micro nuclear reactor is a small version of a nuclear reactor

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

 (approximately a few tens of meters). It is often so small it can be shipped or flown in.

Uses

Micro nuclear reactors could be used to power large vessels, production facilities (e.g. water purification, or mines), or small (remote) villages.

Galena

The Galena Nuclear Power Plant

Galena Nuclear Power Plant

The Galena Nuclear Power Plant is a proposed nuclear power plant to be constructed in the Yukon River village of Galena in the U.S. state of Alaska...

 in Galena, Alaska

Galena, Alaska

Galena is the largest city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2000 census the population was 675.-History:...

 is a proposed micro nuclear reactor installation intended to reduce the costs and environmental pollution required to power the town. It would use the Toshiba 4S

Toshiba 4S

- General description :The plant design is offered by a partnership that includes Toshiba and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry of Japan.The technical specifications of the 4S reactor are unique in the nuclear industry...

 reactor.

Types

Several micro nuclear reactors exist. Examples are:

• SSTAR
  SSTAR
  SSTAR is an acronym for the "small, sealed, transportable, autonomous reactor" - being primarily researched and developed in the USA by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It is designed as a fast breeder nuclear reactor that is passively safe...
  
  
• Toshiba 4S
  Toshiba 4S
  - General description :The plant design is offered by a partnership that includes Toshiba and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry of Japan.The technical specifications of the 4S reactor are unique in the nuclear industry...
  
  
• Hyperion
  Hyperion Power Generation
  Hyperion Power Generation, Inc. is a privately held corporation formed to construct and sell several designs of relatively small nuclear reactors, which they claim will be modular, inexpensive, inherently safe, and proliferation-resistant...
  
  
• Nereus and HTR-10
  HTR-10
  HTR-10 is a 10 MWt prototype pebble bed reactor at Tsinghua University in China. Construction began in 2000 and it achieved first criticality in January 2003.In 2005, China announced its intention to scale up HTR-10 for commercial power generation...
  
  
• Jan Leen Kloostermans' U-battery
• Rapid-L
• NuScale
  NuScale
  NuScale Power LLC is a company formed to construct and sell dedicated design of relatively small nuclear reactors, which they claim will be modular, inexpensive, inherently safe, and proliferation-resistant.-History:The basic design is based on the MASLWR developed at Oregon...
  
  
• B&W mPower
  B&W mPower
  The B&W mPower is a proposed 125 MW modular, advanced light water nuclear reactor. The reactor is to be built by Babcock & Wilcox Co. in North America, and shipped by rail to generating sites. The reactor's power output is approximately 125 MWe, or approximately 10% of a typical reactor...
  
  (Babcock & Wilcox Company)