4 ms·

Maybe the Kilopower reactor [1] [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilopower https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilopower

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
Summary of the linked Wikipedia entry: a nuclear heat source driving a Stirling Engine connected to a regular electric generator. A test reactor has been constructed, called KRUSTY or Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology. It is designed to produce up to 1 kilowatt of electric power and is about 6.5 feet tall (1.9 meters).[12] The goal of the KRUSTY experiment is to closely match the operational parameters that would be required in NASA deep space missions[13]. The prototype Kilopower uses a solid, cast uranium-235 reactor core, about the size of a paper towel roll. Reactor heat is transferred via passive sodium heat pipes, with the heat being converted to electricity by Stirling engines. Sounds neat, I'd like one at home. Electricity is always handy, and the waste heat can be used to keep my house and cars warm.
- larkeith 8y ago
  Also cool: uses passive heat pipes rather than coolant, further reducing the number of moving parts (making it that much more reliable).
  - namibj 8y ago
    I still wouldn't want that much U-235 in a critical configuration in my home. If something goes wrong, I'm not a superfund site, I'm the reason why someone started WW3/why my neighbourhood is no more.
    - nitrogen 8y ago
      Why would it explode? Don't you need high purity and high compression with perfect timing for that? Wouldn't it just get really hot in a reactor design?
      - bronson 8y ago
        It's not easy to contain really hot things. If it gets out, it won't be a nuclear explosion but, if water or combustibles are around, there will be some sort of explosion.
      - yongjik 8y ago
        Frankly I'd be more worried about "passive heat pipes filled with liquid sodium" (read: "pipes filled with substance that transmutes water to fire"). Not in my backyard.
      - azernik 8y ago
        In order to get a full-yield nuclear detonation, yes, but even a "fizzle" still has the power of a good-size conventional bomb.
      - namibj 8y ago
        A criticality event is _bad_. If you are near it, you get cancer. And there are many ways a small nuclear reactor can malfunction without that much yield, and still ruin my neighbourhood. I have to agree, the crater is the worst case.
    - larkeith 8y ago
      Not to mention the whole no radiation shielding thing.
- azernik 8y ago
  A quibble - in space applications, "nuclear heat source" makes me think a radioisotope thermal generator (i.e. a lump of an unstable isotope decaying naturally). That's what's used on the Curiosity and Mars 2020 rovers. Kilopower, on the other hand, is a for-real, critical-mass nuclear reactor.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
    That's a good point. Too late you edit my comment now, but I agree it should have said something like "heat from a nuclear reactor ...'
larkeith 8y ago
As awesome as the Kilopower reactor is, this really isn't its intended use-case - it's supposed to provide low-output, very longterm power in spacecraft and rovers, where mass is limited, shielding unnecessary, and maintenance impossible. For mars colonization, a significantly larger purpose-built reactor would be much more feasible, and almost certainly a better solution than solar.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  This article[1] used as a reference in the Wikipedia entry certainly makes it sound like Mars colony is Kilopower's intended use-case. 1. https://www.space.com/37348-nasa-fission-power-mars-colony.html https://www.space.com/37348-nasa-fission-power-mars-colony.h...
  - larkeith 8y ago
    I stand corrected! Previous articles I had seen had only discussed the prototype and one kilowatt design, but both this and the Wikipedia article show heavier designs for Mars missions.

Summary of the linked Wikipedia entry: a nuclear heat source driving a Stirling Engine connected to a regular electric generator. A test reactor has been constructed, called KRUSTY or Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology. It is designed to produce up to 1 kilowatt of electric power and is about 6.5 feet tall (1.9 meters).[12] The goal of the KRUSTY experiment is to closely match the operational parameters that would be required in NASA deep space missions[13]. The prototype Kilopower uses a solid, cast uranium-235 reactor core, about the size of a paper towel roll. Reactor heat is transferred via passive sodium heat pipes, with the heat being converted to electricity by Stirling engines. Sounds neat, I'd like one at home. Electricity is always handy, and the waste heat can be used to keep my house and cars warm.

larkeith 8y ago
Also cool: uses passive heat pipes rather than coolant, further reducing the number of moving parts (making it that much more reliable).
- namibj 8y ago
  I still wouldn't want that much U-235 in a critical configuration in my home. If something goes wrong, I'm not a superfund site, I'm the reason why someone started WW3/why my neighbourhood is no more.
  - nitrogen 8y ago
    Why would it explode? Don't you need high purity and high compression with perfect timing for that? Wouldn't it just get really hot in a reactor design?
    - bronson 8y ago
      It's not easy to contain really hot things. If it gets out, it won't be a nuclear explosion but, if water or combustibles are around, there will be some sort of explosion.
    - yongjik 8y ago
      Frankly I'd be more worried about "passive heat pipes filled with liquid sodium" (read: "pipes filled with substance that transmutes water to fire"). Not in my backyard.
    - azernik 8y ago
      In order to get a full-yield nuclear detonation, yes, but even a "fizzle" still has the power of a good-size conventional bomb.
    - namibj 8y ago
      A criticality event is _bad_. If you are near it, you get cancer. And there are many ways a small nuclear reactor can malfunction without that much yield, and still ruin my neighbourhood. I have to agree, the crater is the worst case.
  - larkeith 8y ago
    Not to mention the whole no radiation shielding thing.
azernik 8y ago
A quibble - in space applications, "nuclear heat source" makes me think a radioisotope thermal generator (i.e. a lump of an unstable isotope decaying naturally). That's what's used on the Curiosity and Mars 2020 rovers. Kilopower, on the other hand, is a for-real, critical-mass nuclear reactor.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  That's a good point. Too late you edit my comment now, but I agree it should have said something like "heat from a nuclear reactor ...'

larkeith 8y ago

As awesome as the Kilopower reactor is, this really isn't its intended use-case - it's supposed to provide low-output, very longterm power in spacecraft and rovers, where mass is limited, shielding unnecessary, and maintenance impossible. For mars colonization, a significantly larger purpose-built reactor would be much more feasible, and almost certainly a better solution than solar.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
This article[1] used as a reference in the Wikipedia entry certainly makes it sound like Mars colony is Kilopower's intended use-case. 1. https://www.space.com/37348-nasa-fission-power-mars-colony.html https://www.space.com/37348-nasa-fission-power-mars-colony.h...
- larkeith 8y ago
  I stand corrected! Previous articles I had seen had only discussed the prototype and one kilowatt design, but both this and the Wikipedia article show heavier designs for Mars missions.