Oh this is so cool...
Sep. 20th, 2004 03:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kickahaAtomic 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
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
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-21 04:49 am (UTC)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.