[chrisser]

Anyone know if the new reactors to be built are going to be of the light water design, or something new like pebble bed or thorium?

[thackney]

Backgrounder on New Nuclear Plant Designs
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/new-nuc-plant-des-bg.html

Expected New Nuclear Power Plant Applications
Updated October 01, 2007
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/new-licensing-files/expected-new-rx-applications.pdf

[Ditto]

Anyone know if the new reactors to be built are going to be of the light water design, or something new like pebble bed or thorium?

Light water.

Was there a Popular Science article on pebble beds that I missed? People here talk about them as if they are a reality. To date, not one killowatt of electricity has ever been produced by one and no one has any idea if they would work or be safer or more efficient than the well proven light water designs. Test pebble beds are being built in South Africa and China, but it will be many years before anyone knows enough about them to even attempt to scale them up to utility sized plants. We have many years of operating experience with light water reactors and we know they are safe and efficient.