Nuclear cars

[DieselX]

Laser Power Systems is Developing Cars Fueled by Nuclear Power | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Thoughts?

[Frank Lee]

Ha ha, "Cadillac WTF". ;P

Not an entirely new idea:

Ford Nucleon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Cobb]

They tried this for aircrafts, but it would contaminate the air that passed through the engine, the crew and those on the ground.

Maybe it should be left for satellites, submarines and aircraft carriers?

[NeilBlanchard]

Totally unlikely - can you imagine a core meltdown after an accident?

[elhigh]

Somebody came up with an idea for a hafnium fueled nucleonic reactor for powering a turbine. Its radiocontamination would have been marginal. And the shielding requirement is a lot lower too, so it's light enough to actually, you know, fly. I think I saw that in Popular Science a few years ago. <researches> Can't find it.

I also saw a concept for a huge - seriously, makes Hindenburg look like a minnow - dirigible that would use a nuclear power plant for propulsion. Since a dirigible's power requirements are so much lower (little to no energy required to generate lift, for instance) and the aircraft so large, the plant's more modest ratings and physical separation from crew and passengers also limit the exposure to radiation. I have that in a book but don't have a scanner to upload a picture, sorry.

Using hydrogen for a lifting gas would also add to the shielding. Yes, there are certain risks associated with that.

[DieselX]

People said cars would never replace horses and the Beatles were a fad, somehow some form of energy like this will replace fossil fuels. They just need a few tweaks

[jakobnev]

My car gets its energy from the most powerful fusion reactor in the solar system.

[EcoReality]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

My car gets its energy from the most powerful fusion reactor in the solar system.

On a different board, the technophiles were out in full force. They decided that fusion power could be used to desalinate sea water and deliver it thousands of miles inland for irrigating crops.

"They've already done that," someone added, "It's called 'rain!'"

[Xist]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

My car gets its energy from the most powerful fusion reactor in the solar system.

The solar system is pretty big, but think how far you would need to go to find a more powerful one! You very well might need a good reactor of your own to get there!

[NeilBlanchard]

Solar system is part of the galaxy, and there is only one star in our solar system.