[Tytalus]

(12-26-2013 10:30 AM)Volk Wrote:  

I actually think this is pretty good, but for other reasons. Because of danger, regulations and plain fear, we can't make a nuclear car engine. It's a very good idea, but the whole 50's fucked it up for at least the next 100 or more years. We could power a bus for a year with an incredibly minuscule spec of material, and we have the tech to get it right at this very moment, but for all the stated reasons and some others (political and all other greedy reasons), it just won't be pushed. So say we can't put nuclear power in a car, but at least we can put some of that power into some fuel, previously thought as non-renewable. Let them streamline the process a bit more, it is not such a bad direction.

You know, here's a question, how hard would it be to build a mini nuclear reactor in your back yard safely?

Is it possible to build/set it up so that the authorities never figure out what's going on?

Seems like something is possible:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...order.html

The most famous story is:
http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html

[MHaes]

Uhh good luck.

[Suits]

This sounds like a terrible idea.

[JackDavey]

[ms224]

(12-26-2013 10:25 PM)Suits Wrote:  

This sounds like a terrible idea.

Why?

But you might want to read up on what radiation poisoning is first.

DOE regulates nuclear power in this country, I don't think you can just run your own reactor without them wanting to know about it.

Lots of people have build small fusion reactors in the hopes of making them work.

Fusor


Fusor Net

ETA ignore the annoying "OMG its like LEGAL" bullshit from the commentator.

[Pacesetter20]

I think this would be more feasible if Thorium/Liquid Salt Reactors ever come to fruition.

[Katatonic]

Maybe one of the 700 intelligence/surveillance agencies who have flagged this thread can jump in and answer your question.

[Suits]

(12-27-2013 12:54 AM)ms224 Wrote:  

(12-26-2013 10:25 PM)Suits Wrote:  

This sounds like a terrible idea.

Why?

(12-27-2013 05:01 AM)Katatonic Wrote:  

Maybe one of the 700 intelligence/surveillance agencies who have flagged this thread can jump in and answer your question.

This.

[RexImperator]

It's important to remember that you can't taste, smell, see, or directly sense radiation in any way. Therefore it's very easy to harm yourself or others if you don't know what you are doing.

Even trained scientists mess up.

[Aliblahba]

This thread is on the NSA watchlist.

[The Beast1]

You can make a nuclear reactor. It isn't that difficult, although getting the "radium" is the hardest part.

Here's a story about a guy who tried to do just that. Ended up getting a visit from the EPA.

http://harpers.org/archive/1998/11/the-r...boy-scout/

Interesting story about the radium girls who worked at the radioactive paint factory that was used on dials. My mom owns an old school clock with radium still on it. Cool little son of a gun.

http://www.damninteresting.com/undark-an...ium-girls/

[Tail Gunner]

Kids can make anything these days:

http://vimeo.com/39116928

[Tytalus]

LOL. Hypothetical guys. I have a math background but nowhere near the physics or engineering know-how to even start trying something like this.

Just wondering more of the logistical questions like:

1.) wouldn't even a small, tiny nuclear power generator give so much more power than one's house could possibly need?

Didn't think about the NSA angle though. Now they're going to find out all the weird porn I look at. Shit.

[ms224]

Ok, NSA aside

The closest would be something like the Mars rovers or the deep space probes use.

Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

Plutonium 238 needed for its generation is not, shall we say, readily available.

Fusor net forums

Knock yourself out with easily available fusion reactors
But not literally

[Ensam]

I've spent a lot of time in high radiation environments.

DO NOT FUCK WITH RADIATION

Picture of the 'nuclear boy scout' today:


Even the pros fuck up from time to time and it's not pretty.

This is what happens when you stick you hand in a beam of ionizing radiation:

[RexImperator]

Not to mention the increased risk of cancer later in life.

I recall reading about thermoelectric generators built and used in the Soviet Union which were powered by heat from radioactive decay. They were used in things like beacons placed in remote locations, etc. They don't put out that much power, but after the collapse there was a big concern that these things could be all over the FSU and in the wrong hands would be material for a "dirty" bomb.

You would do much better with a wind turbine.

[Suits]

(12-28-2013 02:08 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

You would do much better with a wind turbine.

Ya, why even screw around with this stuff? If you do, it might actually be a rare justification to view university education as a value achievement.

The electric car hasn't exactly made an impressive amount of progress in the last 70 years, at least if you compare it to innovations achieved in traditional combustion engine vehicles.

If you want a science project, this something along these lines, like a wind turbine, as RexImperator has suggested, might be work much more worth considering for the individual amateur.

[Parlay44]

What's to stop some nutjob from pulling the nuclear power source out of his car and making a bomb out of it? Society isn't ready for technology like that.

[CaliforniaSupreme]

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2011/08/02/s...s-kitchen/

That boy scout is fucking weird. He tried to steal smoke detectors to get americium out of them.

[Tytalus]

Good food for thought guys. Here's something else to tihnk about: Steam Power. Apparently if we had spent the last 70-80 years developing steam engines we'd be emitting a lot more H2O instead of CO2 into the atmosphere. And by "steam" I mean you still need gasoline or oil to heat the steam, but you'd be using steam to move your car instead of a heat engine.

[scotian]

(12-28-2013 03:46 AM)Ensam Wrote:  

I've spent a lot of time in high radiation environments.

DO NOT FUCK WITH RADIATION

Picture of the 'nuclear boy scout' today:


Even the pros fuck up from time to time and it's not pretty.

This is what happens when you stick you hand in a beam of ionizing radiation:

I work with radiation all of the time, its part of my job, usually Iridium 192 and once in awhile Cobalt-60. I have to wear a dosimeter and radiation badge which I send to the Canadian government every two weeks so they can monitor my life time dose, I forget what I'm at now but its somewhere around 5 Rems. Radiation is safe if used in a proper manner, but you're right if you fuck around with it, you could be in a lot of trouble.

[Parlay44]

(12-28-2013 06:13 PM)Tytalus Wrote:  

Good food for thought guys. Here's something else to tihnk about: Steam Power. Apparently if we had spent the last 70-80 years developing steam engines we'd be emitting a lot more H2O instead of CO2 into the atmosphere. And by "steam" I mean you still need gasoline or oil to heat the steam, but you'd be using steam to move your car instead of a heat engine.

Those big nuclear reactors just generate heat and boil water which drive stream turbines that generate electricity. Steam technology hasn't gone anywhere.

[Balkanite]

(12-28-2013 06:50 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 06:13 PM)Tytalus Wrote:  

Good food for thought guys. Here's something else to tihnk about: Steam Power. Apparently if we had spent the last 70-80 years developing steam engines we'd be emitting a lot more H2O instead of CO2 into the atmosphere. And by "steam" I mean you still need gasoline or oil to heat the steam, but you'd be using steam to move your car instead of a heat engine.

Those big nuclear reactors just generate heat and boil water which drive stream turbines that generate electricity. Steam technology hasn't gone anywhere.

That's the essence of every power plant. Generate heat that turns the turbine. The difference is the heat source.

There are thousands and thousands of valves and equipment in these plants. No way anyone can construct a stable nuclear reactor in their garage.

[Aliblahba]

I used to run a reactor out of my basement to power up the lights, as staying on the grid costs too damn much. The light would flicker letting me know it was out of fuel, so I'd grab a pick axe and a pair of tongs to go digging in the back yard until I found another one of those warm rocks. They make a buzzing/cracking noise and glow a little, so they ain't hard to find.

Everything was good until a friend came over and thought I was bullshitting. He must've thought I'd poured the liquid from a chem stick on a piece of gravel or something, and picked it up with his hand. Dumbass. He starting freaking out, gained like 800 lbs, turned green, roared real loud, and busted through the wall and I've not seen him since.

And of course the Air Force and NSA came snooping around wanting to know where the big green dude went, and confiscated my reactor. Oh well.