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It's amazing that this actually used (or was supposed to) a real fission reactor. I've always thought that the possibilities of radioisotope thermoelectric gen
by LeoPanthera 7y ago
It's amazing that this actually used (or was supposed to) a real fission reactor.
I've always thought that the possibilities of radioisotope thermoelectric generators were under-utilised. They would be amazingly practical for off-grid living. Surely it must be possible to make a relatively safe one by packing it inside a solid metal case and then burying it in the ground outside your home.
I wonder how far an EV could travel with an RTG in the trunk.
- p1mrx 7y agoThe Curiosity rover's RTG produces 125W, which could recharge a typical 60 kWh EV in about 20 days: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-mission_radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-mission_radioisotope_the...
- teraflop 7y agoCuriosity's RTG also cost about $100 million to manufacture, of which $8.5 million was the cost of the plutonium itself. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1364515 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1364515
- ampdepolymerase 7y agoWhere did the rest of the 100million go?
- mixmastamyk 7y agoR&D, salaries, benefits, government pork.
- wiml 7y agoOne problem with RTGs is you can't throttle them. They're going to produce that amount of power, no more and no less, according to their decay curve, whether you have a use for it or not.
- dragonwriter 7y ago> I've always thought that the possibilities of radioisotope thermoelectric generators were under-utilised. They would be amazingly practical for off-grid living. RTGs are good for low maintenance, which is why they are used for unmanned space probes, unattended lighthouses, etc. > I wonder how far an EV could travel with an RTG in the trunk. About the same distance they could with an inert mass of similar mass in the trunk.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]