As the rest of the developed world gets on board with next-generation nuclear, Australia’s Luddite government and activist sector continue to stick their fingers in their ears and chant ‘La-la-la-la!’ One of their more foolish arguments is that nuclear is ‘too expensive’ and ‘takes too long to build’.
Leaving aside the hypocrisy, given the staggering cost of ‘renewables’ and the ever-lengthening timeline to supposedly build a network that won’t even work in theory, this is an anachronistic argument, based on outdated technology. Modern, small modular reactors are relatively cheap and easily sited. Critics claim that small modular reactors are an unproven technology.
Which might come as news to the Japanese.
Japan has quietly taken a radical step in nuclear energy innovation with the deployment of the Yoroi Reactor – a compact, self-contained nuclear power unit designed to operate autonomously in remote or disaster-prone regions. Unlike conventional reactors, Yoroi requires no towers, no operating crew, and no on-site refueling for up to a decade.
So even the one country that has more reason than any (except maybe Ukraine) to distrust nuclear power is taking the next leap into the future.
Roughly the size of a standard shipping container, the Yoroi Reactor is engineered to be buried underground, where it can deliver stable, zero-emission power without posing the risks historically associated with nuclear energy. Its name, “Yoroi,” which means armor in Japanese, reflects its ruggedized design philosophy – built for resilience, reliability, and total containment.
The reactor leverages molten salt cooling and low-enriched uranium fuel in a sealed, factory-built unit. This approach eliminates the high-pressure water systems used in traditional reactors and significantly reduces complexity. It also means the unit is incapable of melting down — a common fear associated with older nuclear technologies.
Most critically, the Yoroi operates with what engineers call “passive safety.” If anything goes wrong – whether due to natural disaster, loss of external power, or component failure – the system shuts itself down without requiring human intervention. This design is particularly relevant for a country like Japan, where earthquakes and tsunamis have historically challenged nuclear infrastructure.
What Japan is doing makes Boofhead Bowen’s ‘Net Zero’ disaster look like the demented boondoggle that it is.
Two Yoroi Reactors are already running in northern Hokkaido, powering isolated towns that previously relied on diesel generators. These microreactors are delivering constant, clean electricity with zero carbon emissions, replacing decades-old fossil fuel infrastructure in the process.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has publicly stated its intention to scale deployment, with plans to install 50 additional Yoroi units across rural Japan by 2030. The government sees the technology as a critical bridge between energy security, carbon neutrality, and disaster preparedness – particularly for communities that are difficult to connect to national grids.
These reactors would also eliminate one of the massive costs of ‘renewables’: building an entirely new transmission network. They can simply be sited where current coal generators are and hook straight into the existing grid.
Unlike traditional megaprojects, Yoroi Reactors require no high-voltage transmission lines or complex regulatory footprints. They can be installed near point-of-use with minimal disruption, offering consistent power to hospitals, desalination plants, communication nodes, and civilian infrastructure in the harshest environments […]
Japan may now be the first to field a commercially deployed fleet of autonomous microreactors.
While Australia marches backwards. We truly are a joke under this useless and venal government.
