Conclusion
If all goes well, the Toshiba 4S could be providing Galena with power, space heating, and excess capacity for economic development opportunities by about 2015. If certain hurdles are not overcome, however, a large amount of money and time will be spent without producing any new power capacity at all. In any case, nuclear technology should not be considered a near term solution for energy needs in Alaska.
An additional consideration with nuclear reactors is that at this time AEA/AIDEA regulations specifically preclude involvement in nuclear energy. These regulations could hamper deployment of the technology if and when it becomes readily available.
References
Nuclear Regulatory Commission website section on new nuclear plant designs
Galena white papers technical publications for the Galena nuclear project
Galena Electric Power – a Situational Analysis. Paper published in 2004 by the University of Alaska for NREL.
Status of Small Reactor Designs Without On-Site Refueling, IAEA-TECDOC-1536, International Atomic Energy Agency, January 2007