That is provided Toshiba can secure licensing from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the project, according to Galena city manager Marvin Yoder. Galena is a small community west of Fairbanks, on the Yukon River.

The resolution directed Yoder to work with the community's Washington, D.C.-based attorney and Toshiba in developing the application to the NRC.

The 4S reactor unit is referred to as a battery because it does not have moving parts, and once installed, its fuel will not need to be replaced as in conventional nuclear reactors.

The reactor unit is 50 feet to 60 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet in diameter. It will be built outside of Alaska, installed in the Yukon River community, encased in several tons of concrete and not be opened during its operating life, which is now estimated at 30 years.

Licensing will be an involved process that will take several years and substantial funding by Toshiba, Yoder said. It will also include development of a federal environmental impact statement.

"It is in the public interest to pursue the siting of a Toshiba 4S nuclear battery in Galena," the resolution said. The council further directed Yoder to "establish a process and timeline leading to evaluations, industrial partners, and financial and contractual arrangements necessary to bring the economic and environmental benefits of the 4S to Galena."

Toshiba has offered to install the reactor at Galena free of cost if the licensing is approved as a commercial demonstration of the "nuclear battery" in a remote location.

Once the technology is approved for use in the United States, Toshiba believes there will be opportunities for sales worldwide, and elsewhere in rural Alaska, according to Robert Chaney, a researcher with Science Applications International Corp.

SAIC coordinated a U.S. Department of Energy study of long-term energy supply options for Galena, including the Toshiba battery. The University of Alaska and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory worked with SAIC in the study.

The study showed the Toshiba battery can supply electricity to the community for about one-fourth of the cost of conventional diesel fuel.

Chaney said the DOE study weighed the cost benefits of nuclear against other ways of providing Galena with improved energy, including more efficient diesel generation, a small coal-fired power plant, and wind, solar and hydro-power from the nearby Yukon River.

Wind, solar and hydro-power were taken off the list as primary power sources when it was determined that site conditions in Galena did not make those options practical, Chaney told an Alaska Miners Association group in a Dec. 17 briefing on the project.

The analysis showed that, presuming the nuclear battery went into operation in 2010, by 2020 it could supply electricity to Galena for 5 to 14 cents a kilowatt hour (kWh), assuming the reactor is a gift from Toshiba and the community pays only operating costs.

In comparison, improved diesel generation could provide Galena power for 25 cents to 35 cents per kWh. Coal-fired power comes in as a serious alternative in the study, at 21 cents to 26 cents per kWh, Chaney told the mining group. A small coal-powered plant could use coal extracted from a thick coal seam about 12 miles from the community.

The nuclear option looks good even if Galena were to pay for the reactor. In that case the power costs were estimated at 15 cents to 25 cents per kWh in the study, Chaney said. Toshiba has estimated the cost of the 4S reactor at $25 million. Galena's power is now 28 cents per kWh.

However, the nuclear costs vary so much because of uncertainty over the number of security guards the federal NRC may require at the site, Chaney said. Toshiba told SAIC that if the NRC's current regulations are followed, 34 security guards would be needed at the Galena site.

Chaney said a terrorist attack in a small, isolated rural community like Galena is unlikely because an unknown outsider would quickly be recognized. The 4S unit would be encased under several feet of concrete, "and if people show up with jackhammers, everyone in town will be aware of it."

A more appropriate staffing for security might be 4 guards, augmented by a state trooper and Galena city police who are nearby, Chaney said. If the NRC accepts that, the operating costs will be low enough to deliver electricity for 5 cents, according to the study.

The 4S unit will supply far more electricity than Galena now uses, but if it is installed there will be ample, inexpensive power available for local residents to convert homes from heating with expensive fuel oil to more affordable electricity.

Even then, there will be substantial excess power, enough to operate greenhouses that can grow vegetables and fruit year-around for the community, Chaney said.

There are, however, always risks with new technology, according to Ron Johnson, a professor of engineering at University of Alaska Fairbanks who is working with engineering aspects of the DOE study. One issue with the Toshiba 4S reactor is the use of liquid sodium as a heat transfer medium, Johnson said. And as with any nuclear power plant, long-term disposal of radioactive waste is always an issue, although the nuclear materials would not be removed from a unit in Alaska.

Johnson was also cautious on whether the 4S is a total solution for rural village power needs. "If the technology is successfully deployed in Galena, its economic viability in other Alaska villages and elsewhere depends on the actual life-cycle costs, which are yet to be quantified," he said.

Chaney said that if the 10 megawatt design for the 4S is approved and works as expected, Toshiba or other companies should be encouraged to work on smaller versions of it. A 2 megawatt or 4 megawatt version might be sized more appropriately for small, remote communities in Alaska.

Alaska miners are interested in the Galena project because if the NRC approves Toshiba's proposal, larger nuclear batteries could provide power to remote mines. Toshiba does have a 50 megawatt version of the 4S design, which would be useful at an operating mine in a remote location.