4 ms·

Enrico Fermi, father of the nuclear age – History of physics

22 points by endisukaj 9y ago

rmason 9y ago
I toured the Enrico Fermi nuclear plant as a kid. Learned a lot about the man. They also tried very hard to sell us on a nuclear powered future. They even talked about nuclear powered cars. When it came time for questions I said what would happen with a nuclear powered car in case of a traffic accident? The spokesman said that was a stupid question and refused to answer it. On the ride back to school the teacher reassured me that it was a valid question and that he was wrong to refuse to answer it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi_Nuclear_Generating_Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi_Nuclear_Generatin... If nuclear powered cars seem like a fanciful idea they really were seriously considered in the fifties and sixties. Here's information about a Ford prototype. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon
- mlevental 9y ago
  > The spokesman said that was a stupid question and refused to answer it. I don't understand why people do this: you really expect us to believe an adult spokesperson (someone whose job is it to be personable and charming) called a kid stupid and flat out refused to answer a question? more likely he had some reason it was an unfounded question and maybe was evasive but there's no way the word "stupid" (or any other disparaging word) nor "refuse" was actually uttered
- pmoriarty 9y ago
  The nuclear car idea reminds me of Edward Teller advocacy of using nuclear bombs to excavate a harbor in Alaska, "in the shape of a polar bear, if required".[1][2] [1] - http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/VirtualClassroom/Chariot/vandegraft.html http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/VirtualClassroom/Chariot/vande... [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chariot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chariot
  - rmason 9y ago
    Or Elon Musk's idea to use nuclear explosions over the poles to change the climate on Mars and make it more inhabitable. http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/us/elon-musk-mars-nuclear-bomb-colbert-feat/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/us/elon-musk-mars-nuclear-bomb...
  - expertentipp 9y ago
    It’s the early stage zealotry which rushes to apply new powerful solution to every existng problem in the world (see the radium element, from more recent reactjs/angularjs, etc).
- scoggs 9y ago
  I think that type of answer from him is worse than explaining the possibility of the shielding breaking or leaking from the accident which could harm people who aren't even involved in the accident. That's a scary prospect which probably goes far enough to invalidate nuclear cars all together, I'd imagine.

22 points by endisukaj 9y ago

I toured the Enrico Fermi nuclear plant as a kid. Learned a lot about the man. They also tried very hard to sell us on a nuclear powered future. They even talked about nuclear powered cars. When it came time for questions I said what would happen with a nuclear powered car in case of a traffic accident? The spokesman said that was a stupid question and refused to answer it. On the ride back to school the teacher reassured me that it was a valid question and that he was wrong to refuse to answer it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi_Nuclear_Generating_Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi_Nuclear_Generatin... If nuclear powered cars seem like a fanciful idea they really were seriously considered in the fifties and sixties. Here's information about a Ford prototype. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon

mlevental 9y ago
> The spokesman said that was a stupid question and refused to answer it. I don't understand why people do this: you really expect us to believe an adult spokesperson (someone whose job is it to be personable and charming) called a kid stupid and flat out refused to answer a question? more likely he had some reason it was an unfounded question and maybe was evasive but there's no way the word "stupid" (or any other disparaging word) nor "refuse" was actually uttered
pmoriarty 9y ago
The nuclear car idea reminds me of Edward Teller advocacy of using nuclear bombs to excavate a harbor in Alaska, "in the shape of a polar bear, if required".[1][2] [1] - http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/VirtualClassroom/Chariot/vandegraft.html http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/VirtualClassroom/Chariot/vande... [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chariot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chariot
- rmason 9y ago
  Or Elon Musk's idea to use nuclear explosions over the poles to change the climate on Mars and make it more inhabitable. http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/us/elon-musk-mars-nuclear-bomb-colbert-feat/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/us/elon-musk-mars-nuclear-bomb...
- expertentipp 9y ago
  It’s the early stage zealotry which rushes to apply new powerful solution to every existng problem in the world (see the radium element, from more recent reactjs/angularjs, etc).
scoggs 9y ago
I think that type of answer from him is worse than explaining the possibility of the shielding breaking or leaking from the accident which could harm people who aren't even involved in the accident. That's a scary prospect which probably goes far enough to invalidate nuclear cars all together, I'd imagine.