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Irrational fears? What are the chances of the rocket launcher blowing up with the reactor? How would we compute the fallout range as a function of altitude of t
by MichaelMoser123 9y ago
Irrational fears? What are the chances of the rocket launcher blowing up with the reactor? How would we compute the fallout range as a function of altitude of the blast?
- freehunter 9y agoDo you know how much nuclear material we've launched into space? Hint: a lot.
- DennisP 9y agoIrrational because a uranium fission reactor contains very little radioactivity before you start running it.
- tajen 9y agoPlease at least tape it! A nuclear reactor mounted on a gigantic explosive sounds like a stupid idea once you count this risk, but even if we did it, would it be among the most stupid things we did?
- yongjik 9y agoAccording to Wikipedia, "some granites" contain 10 to 20 ppm of uranium, and the density of granite is about 2.65 g/cm^3. If a rocket contains 10t of pure uranium, that is the same amount of uranium in a cube made of uranium-rich (20 ppm) granite, each side about 57m long. Now imagine how many such cubes would fit inside your favorite mountain.
- gene-h 9y agoSo that's the beauty of it being a nuclear reactor as opposed to an radioisotopic thermoelectric generator. An RTG will be very radioactive at the time of launch, a nuclear reactor need not be. As long as one doesn't start the reactor before launch by removing the fuel rods, it's practically inert. One might even start the reactor only when the probe is confirmed to be on an escape trajectory from Earth to avoid the possibility of contamination.