4 ms·

I just want a sealed, finned RTG I can drop in the deep end of my pool and forget about.

by Sophistifunk 7y ago

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
Doable with Americium. Start hoarding old fire detectors.
- ben_w 7y ago
  Those things are only around 30 nanowatts each. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:BRW/images#/media/File%3AAmericium-241.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:BRW/images#/media/File%... https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=5.4+MeV+*+33000%2Fs+in+nanowatts https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=5.4+MeV+*+33000%2Fs+in...
- mark-r 7y ago
  Maybe you heard about the kid who did exactly that? https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/eagle-scout-nuclear-reactor/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/eagle-scout-nuclear-reacto...
Teever 7y ago
I'm curious, what do you need to power in the deep end of your pool? lights?
- msandford 7y ago
  I think it's about heat power not electric power
gh02t 7y ago
You don't even need the TG part if you just want to heat the water. Drop an alpha source with a heat sink in there and it'll heat the water directly. Of course, all the isotopes suitable for use in an RTG are a) extremely dangerous and b) extremely expensive. Pu-238 makes gold look like dirt price wise, it's around 5-10 million dollars per kilogram and is chemically and radiologically extremely dangerous, but minor details.
- gambiting 7y ago
  >> Pu-238 makes gold look like dirt price wise, it's around 5-10 million dollars per kilogram and is chemically and radiologically extremely dangerous, but minor details. The price is actually infinite, since the global supply is somewhere between 20-30kg total. No one will sell you any no matter the price.
  - gh02t 7y ago
    You can actually buy microgram quantities if you know where to look, it's occasionally used in laboratories as a test source. You could buy larger quantities if you had a really good justification and were willing to pay for the cost of producing it, that's effectively what NASA is doing.

I just want a sealed, finned RTG I can drop in the deep end of my pool and forget about.

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago

Doable with Americium. Start hoarding old fire detectors.

ben_w 7y ago
Those things are only around 30 nanowatts each. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:BRW/images#/media/File%3AAmericium-241.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:BRW/images#/media/File%... https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=5.4+MeV+*+33000%2Fs+in+nanowatts https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=5.4+MeV+*+33000%2Fs+in...
mark-r 7y ago
Maybe you heard about the kid who did exactly that? https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/eagle-scout-nuclear-reactor/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/eagle-scout-nuclear-reacto...

Teever 7y ago

I'm curious, what do you need to power in the deep end of your pool? lights?

msandford 7y ago
I think it's about heat power not electric power

gh02t 7y ago

You don't even need the TG part if you just want to heat the water. Drop an alpha source with a heat sink in there and it'll heat the water directly. Of course, all the isotopes suitable for use in an RTG are a) extremely dangerous and b) extremely expensive. Pu-238 makes gold look like dirt price wise, it's around 5-10 million dollars per kilogram and is chemically and radiologically extremely dangerous, but minor details.

gambiting 7y ago
>> Pu-238 makes gold look like dirt price wise, it's around 5-10 million dollars per kilogram and is chemically and radiologically extremely dangerous, but minor details. The price is actually infinite, since the global supply is somewhere between 20-30kg total. No one will sell you any no matter the price.
- gh02t 7y ago
  You can actually buy microgram quantities if you know where to look, it's occasionally used in laboratories as a test source. You could buy larger quantities if you had a really good justification and were willing to pay for the cost of producing it, that's effectively what NASA is doing.