mong' - 8/4/2006 6:44 AMyep that's the chain reactionthe difficulty is to prevent it from getting out of control, because in this case an oxygen leak would be the least of your problem....
Jon_Jones - 8/4/2006 10:20 PMThe Navy wants me to be a Nuclear Propulsion Officer. I've been thinking about it because i'm a Physics Student and I'm thinking of going for nuclear ??something... plus the only research i have where I am is at Oak Ridge National Lab. I'm hoping that from the nuclear navy, i'll find a place in the nuclear NASA fleet.I'm not sure though. I might want to do other thinigs in nuclear physics. however, I think that the fast neurtron reactors are "where it's at." they not only use regular fission, but they use a type of fission that consumes most of the highly radioactive transuranic elements that are produced when U238 goes to U239 and for one reason or another goes up in number again instead of splitting... ending up with Nu, Am Cm Cf Es or some other naughty, unstable isotope.
vanilla - 8/4/2006 10:22 PM... Thermal reactors that run on thorium/U233 fix all those problems you mention, in a much easier and more controllable way.
RRP - 11/4/2006 1:26 AMA lot of people are looking into the next generation of reactors. The US Department of Energy leads an interational program called Generation IV that is doing R&D on 6 advanced reactor designs. Most are fast reactors as that allows the use of more elements and isotopes as fuel. Thorium and U-233 were tried in the past. U-233 emits high energy gamma (if memory serves correctly) that makes it more difficult to fabricate and manage. Thorium cycles were used in the US (Fort Saint Vrain in Colorado) and India is pursuing thorium now in a fast breeder reactor). There is a lot of thorium in the world, especially in India, Brazil and US. An Israeli named Radkowsky is developing a thermal thorium fuel but so far no takers.
vanilla - 22/4/2006 12:10 PMLiquid-fluoride reactors get away from all these problems because they require no fuel fabrication. They are ideal thorium burners.
vanilla - 7/4/2006 3:02 PMThis book, "Nuclear Ship Propulsion", by Holmes Crouch, was originally published in 1960. It is a good introduction to nuclear energy for ships. Why put it on a website devoted to space? Because I think it will be an excellent resource for those who want to understand more about nuclear energy, and even though ships are not spacecraft, they're a bit closer to spacecraft than a stationary power station. Plus, the copyright has been released for educational use.Table of Contents and PrefaceCh 1: Similarities and DifferencesCh 2: Commercial AdvantagesCh 3: Diversity of Fuel FormsCh 4: Fuel CalculationsCh 5: Removal of HeatCh 6: Savannah Reactor FeaturesCh 7: Other Ship ReactorsCh 8: Gas Reactor TurbinesCh 9: Areas for Breakthroughwith more to come in a few days...