3 ms·

I wonder how safe these are. Could I get one in my basement and stop paying nstar for the rest of my life? Would my neighbors complain much?

jabl 8y ago
The black helicopter people might arrive and have a nice chat with you when they discover you ordered a bunch of HEU from aliexpress.
- fragmede 8y ago
  You misspelled http://www.unitednuclear.com http://www.unitednuclear.com ;)
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Funny you should use the phrase "black helicopter." During the Cold War, the military used tiny nuclear reactors to power automated remote sensing stations in the Arctic. We called them "Power Pigs" and they were delivered by helicopter to very remote places. They were fascinating little devices, and because of where they were placed, used the outside air/ice/snow/rocks for cooling. Don't know if they are still being used, or what happened to the old ones, but they were very clever technology.
  - godelski 8y ago
    I am guessing that you are talking about betavoltaics [1]. They were used to power pacemakers and are very useful for remote devices. They can't power much, but they are smaller than PV and don't have to be exposed to the sun (reflective). Though there are larger devices that were used too. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device
  - jarvist 8y ago
    I guess these are the Strontium-90 RTGs made by the Soviets. There's about 1000 out there still - some have been vandalised, some washed out to sea, some sitting rusting in a lighthouse outhouse etc. http://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/radioactive-waste-and-spent-nuclear-fuel/2003-11-two-strontium-powered-lighthouses-vandalised-on-the-kola-peninsula http://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/radioactive-waste-and...
gnode 8y ago
They are not safe. They lack their own biological shield, and thus require the core section to be buried underground, as can be seen in various demo images. Even then, I suspect you wouldn't want to be too close while operating. They also lack other safety systems a commercial nuclear power station reactor has, having only a single control rod. This makes sense for an extraterrestrial reactor, as transporting mass to Mars is very expensive.
- DuskStar 8y ago
  >They also lack other safety systems a commercial nuclear power station reactor has, having only a single control rod. They also have a very strong negative thermal reactivity coefficient, meaning that as the reactor gets hotter it produces much less power. [0] From what I understand, with any reasonable amount of cooling this reactor won't melt down even with the control rod entirely removed, where "reasonable amount of cooling" means "not left to float in a vacuum with no radiators". (Also, if you remove the neutron reflector it'll stop working) Granted, you'd probably want a bit more shielding before putting one in your basement. But it's not going to melt down. [0] https://beyondnerva.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/full-power-test-result-slide.png https://beyondnerva.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/full-power-t...

jabl 8y ago

The black helicopter people might arrive and have a nice chat with you when they discover you ordered a bunch of HEU from aliexpress.

fragmede 8y ago
You misspelled http://www.unitednuclear.com http://www.unitednuclear.com ;)
reaperducer 8y ago
Funny you should use the phrase "black helicopter." During the Cold War, the military used tiny nuclear reactors to power automated remote sensing stations in the Arctic. We called them "Power Pigs" and they were delivered by helicopter to very remote places. They were fascinating little devices, and because of where they were placed, used the outside air/ice/snow/rocks for cooling. Don't know if they are still being used, or what happened to the old ones, but they were very clever technology.
- godelski 8y ago
  I am guessing that you are talking about betavoltaics [1]. They were used to power pacemakers and are very useful for remote devices. They can't power much, but they are smaller than PV and don't have to be exposed to the sun (reflective). Though there are larger devices that were used too. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device
- jarvist 8y ago
  I guess these are the Strontium-90 RTGs made by the Soviets. There's about 1000 out there still - some have been vandalised, some washed out to sea, some sitting rusting in a lighthouse outhouse etc. http://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/radioactive-waste-and-spent-nuclear-fuel/2003-11-two-strontium-powered-lighthouses-vandalised-on-the-kola-peninsula http://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/radioactive-waste-and...

gnode 8y ago

They are not safe. They lack their own biological shield, and thus require the core section to be buried underground, as can be seen in various demo images. Even then, I suspect you wouldn't want to be too close while operating. They also lack other safety systems a commercial nuclear power station reactor has, having only a single control rod. This makes sense for an extraterrestrial reactor, as transporting mass to Mars is very expensive.

DuskStar 8y ago
>They also lack other safety systems a commercial nuclear power station reactor has, having only a single control rod. They also have a very strong negative thermal reactivity coefficient, meaning that as the reactor gets hotter it produces much less power. [0] From what I understand, with any reasonable amount of cooling this reactor won't melt down even with the control rod entirely removed, where "reasonable amount of cooling" means "not left to float in a vacuum with no radiators". (Also, if you remove the neutron reflector it'll stop working) Granted, you'd probably want a bit more shielding before putting one in your basement. But it's not going to melt down. [0] https://beyondnerva.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/full-power-test-result-slide.png https://beyondnerva.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/full-power-t...