kickaha: (Default)
kickaha ([personal profile] kickaha) wrote2004-09-20 03:42 pm

Oh this is so cool...

Atomic powered planes

Let the ignorant screaming and protests begin.

Hint: it's not fission, it's not fusion, it uses an X-ray machine of about the same power as you find in a dentist's office, there is no chain reaction possibility, it is instant-on/instant-off, the fuel has a half-life of 31 years, and is considered low-dose in industrial settings. To top it all off, it's run by a small solar cell.

But I can't wait for the whinging to start over this one if it moves forward... I mean, after all, it has the word 'nuclear' somewhere in it, so it *MUST* be evil and bad and deadly and awful for everyone for years and years... :P

[identity profile] f-x.livejournal.com 2004-09-20 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
My limited memories of sub-atomic physics is no match for this concept... Cool though!

[identity profile] kickaha.livejournal.com 2004-09-21 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Isn't it though?

It's essentially a nuclear-reaction battery. Charge it up with neutrons, and the energy stays there (with a bit of leakage) until being hit with the X-rays, at which point it all comes out as hard gamma. Very efficient at heating that exchanger, and by extension, the air in the turbine.

Turn off the X-rays, the radiation ceases immediately, like flipping a switch.