3 ms·
Sorry I wasn't using the strict term of fission[1]. This reactor says it uses U-235 which would be full fission similar to the US SNAP-10A[2] or Russian BES-5
by SigmundA 9y ago
Sorry I wasn't using the strict term of fission[1].
This reactor says it uses U-235 which would be full fission similar to the US SNAP-10A[2] or Russian BES-5 RTG[3]
So yes the fission part is more complicated than a P-238 alpha decay RTG. Perhaps I mischaracterized the R&D complexity on the reactor portion, although it has been done before.
1. https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/35303/alpha-decay-or-fission https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/35303/alpha-deca...
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAP-10A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAP-10A
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BES-5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BES-5
- tarre 9y agoI didn't know about those reactors. Interesting. When writing the answer, I didn't even consider, that those reactors need to be fast reactors. In retrospect it is obvious, but makes controlling the power even harder.