• Mobile Nuclear Reactors Could Provide Power and Jet Fuel for Military, DARPA Says
    49 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Saza;21106561]That looks like it's from Fallout 3. As in it is.[/QUOTE] Don't you mean just Fallout?
:science: :iia:
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Ford_Nucleon.jpg/800px-Ford_Nucleon.jpg[/IMG] [B]+ [IMG]http://world.honda.com/factbook/auto/motorshow/200110/img/12_p02.jpg[/IMG] = [IMG]http://therearenosunglasses.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/nuke.jpg[/IMG] [/B]
[QUOTE=acon5;21097462]Soon they will probably build a fully working Metal Gear REX. :ninja:[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=FunnyBunny;21108040][IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Ford_Nucleon.jpg/800px-Ford_Nucleon.jpg[/IMG] [B]+ [IMG]http://world.honda.com/factbook/auto/motorshow/200110/img/12_p02.jpg[/IMG] = [IMG]http://therearenosunglasses.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/nuke.jpg[/IMG] [/B][/QUOTE] You're stupid. [editline]05:23PM[/editline] But serious DARPA is god.
[QUOTE=madmanmad;21100220]DARPA's ideas are cool and all but have that actually made ANY of the things they say they will?[/QUOTE] You're using something that DARPA co-created.
[QUOTE=Gmod_Fan77;21107540]*cough* Chernobyl NPP disaster on wheels *cough*[/QUOTE] Are people seriously still afraid of Chernobyl-esque disasters?
Reminds me of Red Alert 2, when playing the communist sites. Remember what happened to them when they blew up? They destroyed 90% of your base.
[QUOTE=ManningQB18;21110161]Are people seriously still afraid of Chernobyl-esque disasters?[/QUOTE] Yes. 3 Mile Island was a hair away from becoming an American Chernobyl.
[QUOTE=Wonky;21110247]Yes. 3 Mile Island was a hair away from becoming an American Chernobyl.[/QUOTE] And both of them were caused by faulty reactors and poorly trained personnel. Try comparing the history of Nuclear power to the history of coal power, and tell me which one's caused more problems.
[QUOTE=Crhem van der B;21100378]This idea exists since the invention of nuclear reactors.. :| They dreamt about such things and promised "nuclear powered cars" during the Cold War.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://www.toxel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/conceptcar09.jpg[/IMG] Thorum concept car, my dream ride and the new generation of car bombs. your worries didn't end when the ford atom was canned, it was only the BEGINNING
[QUOTE=Crhem van der B;21100378]This idea exists since the invention of nuclear reactors.. :| They dreamt about such things and promised "nuclear powered cars" during the Cold War.[/QUOTE] They could do this. We have the technology. Cost, and more importantly safety, is the issue that is keeping it from happening. How do you go get fuel? You would go buy some Uranium or Thorium like a gas station, right? Yeah that's real safe just giving out uranium and Thorium. Every driver who is not yourself sucks terribly. It is a well known fact. What happens if the radioactive materials spill out? Bummer, can't use that road anymore until we spend boatloads of cash cleaning it up or it degrades in a few hundred thousand years at the earliest.
Wouldn't it be easier to put an RTG (Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generator, one that generates thermoelectricity thanks to the decay of radiactive elements) inside the jet or whatever you want to automate? They don't produce as much power, but they are cheaper and in general smaller. Brotip: Excess heat might give away your position.
Maybe this will start some kind of, [i]chain reaction[/i] in green thinking. [img]http://www.problogger.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/mojo.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;21111045]Wouldn't it be easier to put an RTG (Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generator, one that generates thermoelectricity thanks to the decay of radiactive elements) inside the jet or whatever you want to automate? They don't produce as much power, but they are cheaper and in general smaller. Brotip: Excess heat might give away your position.[/QUOTE] They aren't putting nuclear power plants in planes anytime soon. They just want to use the nuclear plants on the carriers to make jet fuel from sea water.
[QUOTE=redonkulous;21110987]They could do this. We have the technology. Cost, and more importantly safety, is the issue that is keeping it from happening. How do you go get fuel? You would go buy some Uranium or Thorium like a gas station, right? Yeah that's real safe just giving out uranium and Thorium. Every driver who is not yourself sucks terribly. It is a well known fact. What happens if the radioactive materials spill out? Bummer, can't use that road anymore until we spend boatloads of cash cleaning it up or it degrades in a few hundred thousand years at the earliest.[/QUOTE] safe fusion?
[QUOTE=redonkulous;21110987]They could do this. We have the technology. Cost, and more importantly safety, is the issue that is keeping it from happening. [B]How do you go get fuel?[/B] You would go buy some Uranium or Thorium like a gas station, right? Yeah that's real safe just giving out uranium and Thorium. Every driver who is not yourself sucks terribly. It is a well known fact. What happens if the [B]radioactive materials spill out[/B]? Bummer, can't use that road anymore until we spend boatloads of cash cleaning it up or it degrades in a[B] few hundred thousand years at the earliest.[/B][/QUOTE] 1. Chances are the car would stop working before you ran out of fuel, or have like 2-3 refueling stops for the life of the car. 2. Chances are the reactor cores would be the strongest (and heaviest) part of the car, the accident would have to be huge. 3. Radioactive spills don't take [I]that[/I] long to degrade. Hell radiation from nuclear bombs hangs around for like 30-40 years at the most.
[QUOTE=OvB;21111263]They aren't putting nuclear power plants in planes anytime soon. They just want to use the nuclear plants on the carriers to make jet fuel from sea water.[/QUOTE] Hm. It would be interesting to see a jet working with liquid Hydrogen and Oxygen, maybe a scramjet.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;21111401]Hm. It would be interesting to see a jet working with liquid Hydrogen and Oxygen, maybe a scramjet.[/QUOTE] The idea is to use the reactors to create JP-8 jet fuel, which is pretty much kerosene with some stuff added to it which I don't think they disclose. Pure hydrogen and oxygen would be interesting. However using an oxidizer would be a waste in a scramjet because they already have air moving through the engine at supersonic speeds before they are activated. Current Scramjets have to be taken to speed by conventional engines before they can reach their full power. Basically just compresses supersonic air with the fuel (hydrogen), then ignites it. No moving parts.
[QUOTE=OvB;21111504]The idea is to use the reactors to create JP-8 jet fuel, which is pretty much kerosene with some stuff added to it which I don't think they disclose. Pure hydrogen and oxygen would be interesting. However using an oxidizer would be a waste in a scramjet because they already have air moving through the engine at supersonic speeds before they are activated. Current Scramjets have to be taken to speed by conventional engines before they can reach their full power. Basically just compresses supersonic air with the fuel (hydrogen), then ignites it. No moving parts.[/QUOTE] Yeah, dunno why I said liquid Oxygen. I should stop thinking about space and rocketry for a while.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.