Thermoelectric coupling uses heat from the decay of a radioactive fuel (as opposed to the full-scale nuclearfission which powers a reactor on Earth) as its energy source.
Rather than create electricity by heating water and turning a turbine, Wilson's new reactor would use nuclearfission to produce energy from molten salt.
The good news is that the big names in nuclear energy -- like Areva, Hitachi, General Electric and Toshiba -- have recently been joined by a bevy of high-tech start-ups seeking to develop advanced nuclear-reactor designs for both fission and fusion energy production.