3 ms·

Are you really asking why we can't power your fridge with plutonium?

junon 6y ago
Do you have an answer that isn't speculation or something you concluded from a breezy stroll over to Wikipedia? Stop mocking questions. It solves nothing.
- btilly 6y ago
  Each Mars Rover uses 5 kilograms of plutonium 238. (Plutonium 239 is the one that is used in nuclear bombs.) Per https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-mars-rover-will-be-powered-by-us-made-plutonium/ https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-mars-rover-will-be-powered... we currently have a lab dedicated to producing it, and it makes 3.5 pounds per year. Per https://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/141931325/the-plutonium-problem-who-pays-for-space-fuel https://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/141931325/the-plutonium-probl... the cost of getting the lab restarted was a bit shy of $100 million. And once running fully it costs millions of dollars to run. At those cost points it would be cheaper to deliver you a brand new fridge each month for the next 20 years than to deliver you a single fridge using plutonium to run without external electricity for the same 20 years. Not to mention that the plutonium itself is toxic.
  - junon 6y ago
    Thanks for the info, interesting. Though FWIW I was more commenting on the mocking of a legitimate question. Not everyone has the same background as everyone else. There are no stupid questions.
- ryandvm 6y ago
  Fair enough. I probably should have dialed down the snark. I suppose if we're looking for a Randall Munroe / "What If?" style explanation of why powering consumer equipment with plutonium is a bad idea, then it was the right question to ask.
mzg 6y ago
Not sure about you, but I was promised fusion-powered DeLoreans by now.
- justinator 6y ago
  You don’t have the Mr. Fusion upgrade? Run that sucker on trash. Had it since 2015.
  - ryandrake 6y ago
    I was promised that by at least 1985, plutonium would be available in every corner drugstore.
newsbinator 6y ago
I come to HN because yes, people are really asking and really answering. It’s currently the best forum on the internet for this reason.

Do you have an answer that isn't speculation or something you concluded from a breezy stroll over to Wikipedia? Stop mocking questions. It solves nothing.

btilly 6y ago
Each Mars Rover uses 5 kilograms of plutonium 238. (Plutonium 239 is the one that is used in nuclear bombs.) Per https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-mars-rover-will-be-powered-by-us-made-plutonium/ https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-mars-rover-will-be-powered... we currently have a lab dedicated to producing it, and it makes 3.5 pounds per year. Per https://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/141931325/the-plutonium-problem-who-pays-for-space-fuel https://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/141931325/the-plutonium-probl... the cost of getting the lab restarted was a bit shy of $100 million. And once running fully it costs millions of dollars to run. At those cost points it would be cheaper to deliver you a brand new fridge each month for the next 20 years than to deliver you a single fridge using plutonium to run without external electricity for the same 20 years. Not to mention that the plutonium itself is toxic.
- junon 6y ago
  Thanks for the info, interesting. Though FWIW I was more commenting on the mocking of a legitimate question. Not everyone has the same background as everyone else. There are no stupid questions.
ryandvm 6y ago
Fair enough. I probably should have dialed down the snark. I suppose if we're looking for a Randall Munroe / "What If?" style explanation of why powering consumer equipment with plutonium is a bad idea, then it was the right question to ask.

mzg 6y ago

Not sure about you, but I was promised fusion-powered DeLoreans by now.

justinator 6y ago
You don’t have the Mr. Fusion upgrade? Run that sucker on trash. Had it since 2015.
- ryandrake 6y ago
  I was promised that by at least 1985, plutonium would be available in every corner drugstore.

newsbinator 6y ago

I come to HN because yes, people are really asking and really answering. It’s currently the best forum on the internet for this reason.