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It isn't actually. First of all flying things into the sun is incredibly power intensive and expensive. You are comparing truck loads of 'toxic waste' to a tin
by panick21_ 4y ago
It isn't actually.
First of all flying things into the sun is incredibly power intensive and expensive. You are comparing truck loads of 'toxic waste' to a tiny amount of nuclear fuel.
What if the flight explodes in the atmosphere, basically nothing. The reactor is enclosed in steel and will fall into the ocean. At that point in time the reactor is not active.
The reactor is basically just a few pallets of U-235 and U-238, those falling into the ocean isn't a big deal.
- FourHand451 4y agoEchoing your sentiments, it's worth noting that we've already launched nuclear power generators on a number of NASA missions. Not the usual type of fission reactor, but radioactive material nonetheless. So the risk certainly hasn't been considered intolerable so far. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...