Nuclear energy – The Lab: Recent Episodes
None
From television to nuclear fusion In 2005, a small team, headed by Robert Bussard, built a nuclear fusion reactor. The design was a descendent of a fusion reactor invented by the same man who invented the television. The program was chronically underfunded. Though they were able to build two more models after Bussard’s death, they … Continue reading Ep 166: From television to nuclear fusion →
It can’t melt down if it’s already melted Today we look at the latest and greatest in reactor design, molten salt nuclear reactors. Here’s a link to Moltex Energy Moltex Energy Here’s a link to a short video that explains the Moltex reactor. Stable Salt Reactor Technology
Nuclear powered aircraft In the 1950/s the United States Airforce and Navy considered nuclear powered aircraft. Instead of burning fuel to heat air and provide thrust, a nuclear-powered jet engine would heat the air from the heat generated by a nuclear reactor. If it had worked, the aircraft could have remained airborne for months at … Continue reading Ep 164: Nuclear powered aircraft →
Blast me to the moons! Once you’ve learned how to tap nuclear energy, what can you do with it? One proposal was to take a couple thousand nuclear bombs, drop them behind a spacecraft, and set them off to push the craft from the Earth’s surface, into orbit, and then around the solar system. Called … Continue reading Ep 163: Blast me to the moons! →
Nuclear alchemy The medieval alchemists wanted to change lead into gold. It was, by the methods they were attempting to use, impossible, but modern physics might be able to turn gold into lead. it is possible to change one chemical element into another. In nuclear reactors, with all those neutrons flying about, materials that absorb … Continue reading Ep 162: Nuclear alchemy →
Isotopes and enrichment A given element can have different numbers of neutrons. While the protons determine an elements chemical properties, the different number of neutrons can have different nuclear properties. Uranium occurs naturally with mostly u238, with only about 0.07 percent of it occurring as u235. It’s the uranium 235 that can support a nuclear … Continue reading Ep 161: Isotopes and enrichment →
Let’s relax with nuclear physics I’d like to thank john peacocke for giving me the idea for the next few episodes. We’ve been chatting via email, and he told me about molten salt nuclear reactors. That reactor and the general subject are interesting, and they make a nice break from the if and maybe of … Continue reading Ep 160: Let’s relax with nuclear physics →