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So the new part is they didn't bother generating power in the RTG because they only need the heat? That doesn't seem very pioneering to me, it's just a pile of
by fsmv 2y ago
So the new part is they didn't bother generating power in the RTG because they only need the heat? That doesn't seem very pioneering to me, it's just a pile of plutonium.
- yeknoda 2y agoit's not plutonium. it's americium
- t43562 2y agoThe new part is that it's using Americium. That's it. It's a challenge to use the material for various reasons but the wonderful thing about it is that it's easier to get hold of apparently. The UK, in fact, has a problem with its plutonium stockpiles being polluted increasingly by Americium and now there's something it can be used for. There are significant disadvantages (lower power per weight, high gamma ray activity) and some upsides (longer half-life by a big factor).
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- outworlder 2y agoPiles of plutonium are pretty difficult to come by.
- acheron 2y agoI figured by 1985 it’d be available in every corner drugstore.
- preisschild 2y agoIf you have good contacts to Gadaffi and the Libyans, you might get it from them.
- shadowgovt 2y agoJust have some pinball machine parts ready to trade.
- thatoneguy 2y agoWhile this wasn't available in 1985, if it's a pile of parts that add up to, say, Addams Family Pinball, then that's the going rate for at least 1.5 grams of weapons-grade plutonium from the DoE last I checked (NRC and possible state fees not included).
- shadowgovt 2y agoWith that much and some careful engineering, I can probably generate 1.21 jigawatts of power.
- hi-v-rocknroll 2y agoNawh, it's already obsolete with Mr. Fusion. Just add banana peels.