Here's an idea that's not going to go over well with the Department of Homeland Security: Toshiba has reportedly developed a nuclear reactor that will fit in your basement. Measuring 20 feet wide by 6 feet long, it cranks out 200kW and doesn't even require Homer Simpson to operate, since it's supposedly totally automatic and can't overheat. According to Next Energy News, this is not some pie-in-the-sky tech, either.
They're saying that Toshiba will be installing the first one in Japan next year, with working reactors coming to Europe and America by 2009. While we'd really like to go off-grid, something's fishy about all this. This must be a hoax. Next: personal nuclear weapons? [Next Energy News, via Dvorak Uncensored]