People
here at the NRC were scratching their heads last week when e-mails
began circulating about an Internet ad for the KUBE X-15 MiniNuke, a
palm-sized power reactor that supposedly could power a city the size of
Dayton, Ohio, for a year. The ad said the device was “pending approval
by federal regulators” and even prominently displayed the NRC’s branding
logo. But the poor regulators (that would be us) hadn’t even heard
about this revolutionary product we were supposedly about to certify.
Then
of course we remembered the date. And indeed, the KUBE X-15, supposedly
marketed by TigerDirect.com, was an ingenious April Fool’s joke. After
the prank was exposed by International Business Times, the “ad” was
pulled from the web.
There
were several clues that immediately signaled the ad’s false claims,
such as the proviso, “additional plutonium sold separately.” But to us,
at least, the most obvious tip-off that this was a joke came near the
bottom: “This product has not been approved by the USNRC. They wouldn’t
even take our calls or return a damn e-mail! But we think they’d have no
problem with the KUBE.” We pride ourselves on answering public
inquiries, after all, even crazy ones!
Even
after the prank was exposed, the ad continued to circulate, and many
folks on Twitter retweeted the exciting news of the technology
breakthrough at #KUBEX15. So just for the record – such a tiny nuclear
generator doesn’t exist and is NOT being reviewed by the NRC.
![]( "Rubik_cube")
It might
be nice if power generation were as simple as pouring some plutonium
powder into a small block the size of a Rubik’s Cube. But for now, we’ll
be sticking to regulating those old-fashioned large plants that keep
the computers running so those funny folks at TigerDirect.com – wherever
and whoever they are – can keep us laughing.
David McIntyre
Public Affairs Officer
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