Nuclear powered cars?
Discussion
Ok, I know it will never happen, and was flirted with in the 50s by Ford but only got as far as a mock up.
It being a massively bad idea on safety grounds giving the public a small reactor, that aside could it be done, what would it look like, how would one perform etc ?
Would it be basically an EV with a battery that would last years and produce more power than you would ever need ?
Is it possible to package a reactor that small ? I know that some military/research hardware has Atomic batteries, but would that provide enough power for a car ?
It being a massively bad idea on safety grounds giving the public a small reactor, that aside could it be done, what would it look like, how would one perform etc ?
Would it be basically an EV with a battery that would last years and produce more power than you would ever need ?
Is it possible to package a reactor that small ? I know that some military/research hardware has Atomic batteries, but would that provide enough power for a car ?
Dinoboy said:
I remember watching that aged about nine and completely losing it as "We're breaking wind at 90", or something similar 
What would be the method of converting nuclear energy to useful electricity?
Ships and subs use the heat created to drive a steam turbine, much like a nuclear power station, which obviously wouldn't be practical in something the size of a family car. I think most other types of atomic batteries only produce very low voltages, not enough to power a passenger car. The Mars Rover produces only a tiny amount of power, 0.11kW from it's Plutonium fuel source.
You'd need something inbetween these two extremes of scale, and I don't know if that currently exists.
Ships and subs use the heat created to drive a steam turbine, much like a nuclear power station, which obviously wouldn't be practical in something the size of a family car. I think most other types of atomic batteries only produce very low voltages, not enough to power a passenger car. The Mars Rover produces only a tiny amount of power, 0.11kW from it's Plutonium fuel source.
You'd need something inbetween these two extremes of scale, and I don't know if that currently exists.
It wouldn't make any sense to have an on-board nuclear reactor
Given the amount of energy that is generated, and the amount of energy required for a car to travel a few hundred miles, it just doesn't make sense
Having a nuclear reactor produce electricity and supply it to the grid, and then charge an electric car from that electricity, is the best way to go about it.
Given the amount of energy that is generated, and the amount of energy required for a car to travel a few hundred miles, it just doesn't make sense
Having a nuclear reactor produce electricity and supply it to the grid, and then charge an electric car from that electricity, is the best way to go about it.
Hopefully someone who knows about this stuff will join in, but if you want an actual reactor-based one, rather than just using the heat from radioactive decay, aiui there's a scaling problem. Small reactors are very inefficient, and iirc by the time you've shielded it and everything so you, your passengers, and people walking past don't die horribly, anything small enough to fit in a car would struggle to generate enough energy to move itself.
There may be some issues from various snowflakes worrying about trivial things like what happens in a crash, but let's get it moving first, and then we can worry about what happens when it stops.
There may be some issues from various snowflakes worrying about trivial things like what happens in a crash, but let's get it moving first, and then we can worry about what happens when it stops.
Why stop at nuclear-powered cars?
How about a nuclear-powered train?
Supertrain!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertrain
.
NB: the fission powertrain was never as important as the disco theme music ; )
Early pacemakers were nuclear powered.
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/degra...
Wouldn’t fancy one myself though, if ever I needed one.
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/degra...
Wouldn’t fancy one myself though, if ever I needed one.
unsprung said:
Why stop at nuclear-powered cars?
How about a nuclear-powered train?
Supertrain!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertrain
.
NB: the fission powertrain was never as important as the disco theme music ; )
Nuclear powered bus. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074205/How about a nuclear-powered train?
Supertrain!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertrain
.
NB: the fission powertrain was never as important as the disco theme music ; )
ZedLeg said:
It just doesn’t make sense. Too volatile and isn’t the right fit for the job.
Yes, I said that in my original post and said to put that aspect aside, more of a theoretical thing rather than a realistic one.Whether that aside it would actually be possible and practical but it does sound like it’s not feasible as mentioned in the reactors not scaling and needing too much shielding to make it safe for anyone to drive it.
Suppose the lunar rover is the nearest but it’s tiny amounts of power compared to what a car on earth needs.
unsprung said:
Why stop at nuclear-powered cars?
How about a nuclear-powered train?
Supertrain!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertrain
.
NB: the fission powertrain was never as important as the disco theme music ; )
What a fantastic title sequence How about a nuclear-powered train?
Supertrain!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertrain
.
NB: the fission powertrain was never as important as the disco theme music ; )
hunt123 said:
already happened, hasn't anyone watched back to the future?
Yeah, was more talking about technology that actually works at the moment rather than Fusion, which is at the moment still in its early stages and requires a massive tokomak donut thing that produces very little or no power compared to what you put in.The only option is Fission for now, or a nuclear battery.
Would be pretty cool to put household refuse in to make fuel, it’s probably been done somewhere by someone’s uncle in his shed who then mysteriously disappeared
tegwin said:
There is a whole class of small nuclear thermal electrical generators which can be as small as a few watts, and the ones on the Voyager probes, which initially started generating power over 50 years ago, are still working now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoe...
No reason why they couldn't work, but a fission reactor and steam generator would be far too big to put in a car economically.
Condi said:
tegwin said:
There is a whole class of small nuclear thermal electrical generators which can be as small as a few watts, and the ones on the Voyager probes, which initially started generating power over 50 years ago, are still working now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoe...
No reason why they couldn't work, but a fission reactor and steam generator would be far too big to put in a car economically.
ZedLeg said:
Ultimately I think it would be a hard sell even if the technology was there. What do you do with scrapped cars when the power source is still toxic decades after the vehicle is obsolete?
Very good point. If we go by current trends, we can leave it for the generations that follow us to deal with!. 
maybe if the power source was modular and could be removed and placed into another car, given the long life of nuclear stuff. (it may or many not be obvious I know nothing about nuclear power).
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff