3 ms·
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?
by 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 agoIt'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 agoFrankly 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 agoIn 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 agoA 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.