Why aren't nuclear powered cars a reality?
Because if you run out of power to run the cooling system it will explode
>crash car
>blow up half of the town
It's a really bad idea.
>>51661171
Why aren't concentration camps for stupid people like OP a reality?
>>51661171
Great, now Muslims can make mini-nuke car bombs.
>Fender bender
>Nuclear winter
>>51661171
Nuclear power plants cost millions of dollars to build, are generally well planned out and there's plenty of room for massive amounts of shielding, control systems, and other safety measures. They also sit anchored in place in a single environment for their entire lifetime, and are constantly maintained by professionals and monitored around the clock.
A car is none of this, it's a cheap machine that needs to be small, light, and efficient. It won't be frequently maintained on average, it definitely won't stay put, and it will get into at least a few accidents in its lifetime, some to which the measly amount of shielding won't be able to hold up to and prevent radiation leaks.
There's too many variables for it to be even slightly safe and viable with current technology.
As a student, I once operated one of the smallest nuclear reactors in the world. It was a cylinder 25 cm by 25 cm. It operated at 5 watts. The shielding was still 2 meters of water, steel, and brick.
>>51661193
>nuclear powered
>run out
>>51661171
Why arent internal combustion engine phones a thing?
>>51661406
This should totally be a thing though
>having a cute little v8 powering your phone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
Anyone who thinks that a nuke powered car isn't possible would be wrong, anyone who thinks that a nuke powered car is something that should be used by normal people is fucking insane.
Stop playing Fallout and go outside for a change.
>>51661651
>Nuclear powered ramjet cruise missiles
Jesus
Thorium would have worked, but not so easy to make bombs with it, so went with uranium instead.
>>51661575
Shit, that would be cute.
>beaners and chavs decide to make theirs loud and rev them in the streets at unsociable hours
Actually no
>>51661171
Because that would be retarded.
>>51661735
>molten salt bucket with wheels
jesus christ no
Thorium is not some kind of reddit unicorn dust that solves every problem.
>>51661575
>turbocharged Nexus 6-cyl
>>51661321
You know that thing they sent on the surface of Mars?
That's nuclear powered
>>51661778
No. Voyager systems were though.
>>51661360
Nuclear certainly uses expendable materials...
>two cars hit each other
>blue flash
>all occupants and people within the next few hundred feet consigned to death in a week
>fuel is more expensive
>cars don't go any faster
>fuel is harder to get rid of than CO2
as opposed to
>two cars hit each other
>no one is hurt, or only the occupants
>no one dies usually
>fuel is easy to get rid of
>etc
You don't see any problems with the first one??
>>51661778
Curiosity is powered by solar.
Voyager is powered by nuclear waste. Connected to a solid state thermocouple, which is what generates the electricity.
>>51661790
The Mars Science Laboratory is powered by RTG.
>>51661745
tiny internal-combustion engines all sound like a mosquito on meth. it'd be annoying, but I don't think they'd feel very many by doing it.
>>51661778
Different kind of nuclear though.
Also, if it leaks nobody is there to get cancer.
>>51661839
If nobody is there, then why the fuck are we spending billions of dollars on this shit?
>>51661848
kek
>>51661848
It's more productive than bombing sand people.
>>51661848
>>51661837
they'd probably run it through a horn which would pump the bass.
I have absolute confidence that they could make something like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyuH4NP1E2c
that would run high pitched.
>>51661778
Using plutonium, which is rare, and only generates a few watts.
>>51661171
Because when they hit 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit.
>>51661194
>I don't understand how technology works!
You gotta stop playing video games yo
>>51661856
No it isn't, bombing sand people actually kills a few of them.
>>51661778
Yeah, a one-off, incredibly expensive, low-power RTG designed to operate in a literally alien environment where even if something where to happen that would cause a radiation leak, there would be nothing there for the radiation to damage.
>>51661826
>Curiosity is powered by solar.
nope, Curiosity uses a RTG. It's the white thing with the cooling fins on the back; generates about 120 watts. Solar cells adequate for a rover that big would be too heavy and bulky to be practical.
>>51661873
>plutonium
>rare
Plutonium doesn't exist on earth naturally dude
>only generates a few watts
>nuclear power plant in your car
>fission produces heat
>heat boils steam, spins turbine
So here you have two choices, directly use the energy from the steam turbine to drive the wheels, but this is incredibly unresponsive and not suited to a car, or you can convert it to electricity and store it in batteries, which then supply the power to the wheels on demand.
So... Why wouldn't you just use batteries in the first place and leave the nuclear power plant hundreds of kilometers away?
This shit doesn't make sense.
>>51662197
well to be fair on him that does make it pretty rare.
>>51661171
>having nuclear material readily available for any terrorist/asshat with a statement to mak, or just straight up enjoys killing people
yeeeeah, that's a real good idea op
>>51661171
Cadillac built a thorium car... was only a concept though.
>>51662197
It's been estimated that there's about 9g of naturally occurring plutonium in the earth's crust
>>51663286
thorium would be the way to go not plutonium
>>51663311
I'm not arguing for plutonium, just stating that it is a naturally occurring thing
>>51663286
I was expecting less. Plutonium's half life is short enough so that any plutonium generated 4.6 billion years ago is gone now. What occurs naturally is from the natural decomposition of heavier elements.
Plutonium used in bombs and such is just made in nuclear reactors, promoting the breakdown of uranium into plutonium.
>>51663237
Nuclear material is already readily available to terrorists or any average joe. Terrorists don't give a shit.
>>51663364
>What occurs naturally is from the natural decomposition of heavier elements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-244
>Since plutonium-244 cannot be easily produced by natural neutron capture in the low neutron activity environment of uranium ores (see below), its presence cannot plausibly be explained by any other means than creation by r-process nucleosynthesis in supernovae. Plutonium-244 is thus the shortest-lived and heaviest primordial isotope yet detected or theoretically predicted.
>>51661171
Same reason why "everything will be robotised and people will only be working, like, 3 hours a week" promises happening.
It was all bullshit.
>>51663433
So, because jews then?
>>51662045
i'm surprised tehy didn't add little flying drones too it.
which could dock to recharge their batteries before flying away again.
>>51661321
What are nuclear submarines?
>>51663767
Still cost millions of dollars, are still constantly monitored and maintained, etc.
>>51663778
Having nuclear-powered passenger cars is ridiculous on itself, but why not, dunno, trains and/or large haul tractors?
Why can't we have future now goddamnit? Where are my walking tanks, giant robots, sex androids and holodecks?
Fuck!
>>51661848
Dunno, maybe there is oil?
Vapor generated from the heat that the nuclear material produces, causing large generators to move. Well at least this is what I've heard, if it's true then where would they keep all the water.
>>51663854
Nuclear powered cargo liners. Those ships are MASSIVE.
And they carry millions of dollars of cargo anyway, so security is already dealt with.
And they burn fossil fuels right now. The dirtiest and the cheapest fuels.
>>51661171
There are far cheaper solutions IMO. You can always charge a battery (electric or hydrogen) with nuclear power from a power plant. Shrinking down and manufacturing a nuclear reactor seems way more expensive.
>>51663724
>flying with no atmosphere
>>51664054
the real issue would be props
drones would get beat to shit, and it's much easier to build a big wing and strap solar cells and a motor to it
>>51663373
this
some motherfucker built a reactor in his shed
>>51664091
Not to mention the rusting barrels of nuclear waste just sitting around unguarded.
Sandniggers are missing a real opportunity but they're just too dumb to notice.
>>51664091
This. Wasn't it some old ass mofo
this board is officially the new /v/
>>51664166
/g/ has been /v/ as long as /b/ has been cancer
>>51661193
>>51661194
what is thorium
>>51664690
Liquid Fluoride Thorium!
>>51661171
Because there are far too many materials cheaper than e.g plutonium to power a car. That's the most important reason.
Safety is a minor regard in that case. Look at nuclear power plants. Risk involved if it suit whatever people want to get out of it. Powering a power plant with nuclear power? Yes. Powering a car with nuclear power? No.
Also I didn't read anything of the answers provided here. It's /g/v/ so suck on that. This is just to give OP a normal answer, I'm not gonna read any of the stuff you'd probably reply to my comment either. Have a nice day.
>>51661171
alahu ahkbar
>>51661214
Agreed. Also for /r9k/ posters.
>steal car and crash it in the woods near Old Man Henderson's farm for giggles
>the mutant horrors that were once his livestock haunt the land for decades
>>51661171
The big oil doesn't want you to have your own private nuclear reactor.
>>51661194
A nuclear car would not blow up half a town just as a hydrogen car would not blow up 1/4 of the country.
You're an idort
>>51663724
Flying is difficult with 98% less atmosphere than earth
>>51665312
Well, nobody's there to liven up the place!
Imagine two fusion reacted cars crashing into each other, assuming a high speed because they're fusion powered
>>51665298
While it wouldn't reach critical mass, a car accident involving a nuclear reactor would likely spread fissile material over a wide area.
A VBIED would be an event that endangers the lives of thousands if not tens of thousands.
>>51663724
another dumb comment from a tripfag
>>51661651
>Since nuclear power gave it almost unlimited range, the missile could cruise in circles over the ocean until ordered "down to the deck" for its supersonic dash to targets in the Soviet Union. The SLAM as proposed would carry a payload of many nuclear weapons to be dropped on multiple targets, making the cruise missile into an unmanned bomber. After delivering all its warheads, the missile could then spend weeks flying over populated areas at low altitudes, causing tremendous ground damage with its shock wave. When it finally lost enough power to fly, and crash-landed, the engine would have a good chance of spewing deadly radiation for months to come.
Those Cold War guys were so hardcore holy shit
>>51661651
>>51661194
>>51661193
>>51661218
>ITT: i dont understand nuclear science or how reactors work
>nor do i understand how a meltdown even occurs
>nor do i understand the difference between reactor and weapons grade nuclear fuel
nuclear cars would be extremely safe, arguably safer than your combustion engine, and would never amount to anything resembling a nuclear bomb or a dirty bomb like chernobyl
the amount of uranium that would power a car, could basically be safely held in ones hand
you solve a LOT of issues, giving the cars 5-10 years of fuel, rather than 50 years of fuel
>>51664114
no it was a boyscount
i shit you not
hard as fuck to find some of the good videos online
how?
smoke detectors, and thorium based propane lantern lights (no longer commercially sold), aluminum foil, and blocks of carbon/spent charcol
he never obtained power off of his breeder reactor, but believes to created a few atoms of plutonium because his gieger counter was going fucking crazy as he walked across his neighborhood
got pulled over with this device in his car as he was going to dismantle/destory it, police thought it was a bomb and stuck him in brief custody.
in recent interviews he talks about a HAND SIZED ROCK of iridium, he refuses to explain where he "found" it.
a really interesting fucker.
>>51665498
I read once, I don't know if it's true, that while the Soviet Union pointed their missiles mainly to millitary relevant targets the USA pointed theirs mainly to the most populated areas.
>>51665597
Well there's your answer: OPEC would never allow it.
Same reason hydrogen and biofuels haven't really taken off- Petroleum is worth too much money, and the middle east is enough of a shithole already that it's in no one's interest to create a world where no one needs their oil. Thus, alternative energy receives no research funding.
