As someone who studied reactor engineering, I have to say that Asimov's walnut-sized nuclear power units are still almost as far-fetched today as hyperspace travel. We just don't have the technology to convert nuclear power to a more useable form on such a small physical scale. So, it's about as futuristic as you can get, and I don't see what the beef is with the idea. Were the units supposed to be siphoning energy from a hidden dimension via mini-blackholes or something?
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