BERMUDA would be the ideal location for a miniature nuclear power plant, according to the company licensed by the US Government to develop this revolutionary technology.

The vice-president of Public Policy at New Mexico-based Hyperion Power Generation told the Mid-Ocean News this week that a small nuclear power reactor could potentially cut Bermuda's power bills in half.

This news comes on the heels of this week's Department of Statistics report revealing that local fuel and power bills rose 14 per cent between August and September as inflation hit a 17-year high.

Hyperion is currently developing nuclear power plants that take up less space than a garden shed, can be delivered safely by ship and truck, and are buried underground. Representatives from the company are now in talks with developers in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas and Panama, and believe that Bermuda would be a perfect location to test out this new technology.

"Bermuda would be ideal ¿ really, any island situation would be," said Deborah Deal-Blackwell, Hyperion's vice-president of Public Policy.

"The island nations were really the first that came to us a year and a half ago when we were still in research and development, saying that this would be affordable power. They want to pay the same as we do here on the US mainland."

Ms Deal-Blackwell explained that the miniature nuclear power reactors, which will be mass-produced in around five years' time, aim to generate electricity for about ten cents per kilowatt-hour. This is less than half of Belco's current charge of 20.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential bill payers.

"Ten cents per kilowatt-hour is a phenomenal price for people in remote locations ¿ really, it is a good price anywhere in the world," said Ms. Deal-Blackwell, who noted that her Virginia energy bill is charged at about eight cents per kilowatt-hour.

She said that, should Bermuda's Government, the public, and Belco be interested in pursuing nuclear power, Hyperion would be able to act quickly once the company's research and development phase is completed and US regulations have been fulfilled.

"We're looking at four years, but after that the Bermuda Government or the private owners of the utilities company could call us up and we could get you one in a matter of months," Ms Deal-Blackwell said.

Hyperion's miniature reactors are considered relatively safe, with no moving parts or weapons-grade material. Company CEO John Deal told the UK's Observer newspaper on Sunday that "you could never have a Chernobyl-type event" with a mini nuclear plant.

Mr. Deal told the Observer that Hyperion is targeting "isolated communities", and plans to build 4,000 of $25-million reactors by 2023. Hyperion's small nuclear power stations were invented at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the first atomic bomb was famously developed. The waste produced by one of these reactors after five years is approximately the size of a softball, according to Hyperion.

While Belco's senior vice-president of Corporate Relations Linda Smith would not rule out the implementation of Hyperion's nuclear reactors in Bermuda, she believes the technology has yet to be adequately tested.

"There are all kinds of international conventions with anything nuclear," she said.

"There would have to be public and Government will. The small-scale technology would have to be proven."

Ms Smith added that Belco met with Nuclear Industry Association of South African secretariat and Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Limited company representative Gert Claasen when he was on the island earlier this year.

Mr. Claasen held a forum entitled 'Nuclear Energy For Bermuda?' at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute in May, prompting many Bermudians to consider whether this alternative energy source could lessen the island's staggering fuel costs.

"It's inexpensive; it's the least expensive fuel," Ms Smith said.

"But there are constraints with safety and disposal. It isn't a proven technology."

She added that, while Belco certainly would not rule out the use of miniature reactors on the island, it would be premature to make any decisions before final research and development is carried out.

"It's unlikely we'll champion being one of the first places to use this technology, but we're definitely watching everything," Ms Smith said. "There's all kinds of technology emerging. We're not ruling anything out. We're going to be careful."