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32
votes
8answers
7k views
What practical issues remain for the adoption of Thorium reactors?
From what I've read on thorium reactors, there's enormous benefit to them. Their fuel is abundant enough to power human civilization for centuries, their fission products are relatively short-lived, ...
2
votes
2answers
713 views
Is the E-cat for real?
Does this thing really do what they say?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhvD4KuAEmo
If it does, it looks like this will probably be the biggest breaktrough in science ever :)
5
votes
2answers
960 views
How would a black hole power plant work?
A black hole power plant (BHPP) is something I'll define here as a machine that uses a black hole to convert mass into energy for useful work. As such, it constitutes the 3rd kind of matter-energy ...
5
votes
4answers
694 views
What is the minimum amount of fissile mass required to acheive criticality?
Wikipedia gives the following definition for critical mass.
A critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction.
No mention is made of a ...
11
votes
3answers
3k views
Why didn't the control rods in Fukushima shut down the reactor?
With all the hubbub over the reactors in Japan and nuclear safety, I was wondering why the insertion of the control rods in Fukushima did not shut down the reactor? Shouldn't they slow the fission ...
3
votes
1answer
156 views
Nuclear Salt Water Rockets: viability and follow-up
This is the original paper by R. Zubrin proposing the Nuclear Salt Water Rocket design.
Basically the design is that a capillar set of pipes store a uranium salt-water solution, inside a cadmium ...
1
vote
1answer
319 views
Why are we not using thorium for energy? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What practical issues remain for the adoption of Thorium reactors?
I have been reading and watching a bit on thorium TH 90 and cannot understand why this is not being ...
-1
votes
4answers
218 views
Which part of making an atomic bomb is the hard part and how many people know how to do that? [closed]
I mean which part of the process of making an Atomic bomb is the hard and how many people know how to do that on Earth. Is it in hundreds or less i.e. 20 - 50 people or even less?
Don't get me wrong ...
4
votes
3answers
503 views
What is generating the hydrogen that has exploded in the Fukushima reactor?
The explosions at the Fukushima nuclear reactors were caused by a build of hydrogen. I was wondering where this hydrogen came from.
This question Fukushima - Isn't the hydrogen presence a proof ...
3
votes
1answer
58 views
The synthesis of $^{254}\text{No}$
How is $^{254}\text{No}$ synthesised?
Could you explain the reaction where it is preceded by $^{208}\text{Pb}(^{48}\text{Ca}, 2\text{n})$?
References to articles are well enough—I was somehow unable ...
2
votes
4answers
270 views
Why was PACER abandoned?
The PACER project is described in this question: How much of the energy from 1 megaton H Bomb explosion could we capture to do useful work?
Why was it abandoned? It seems that it is the only readily ...
2
votes
1answer
288 views
Fukushima - Isn't the hydrogen presence a proof of meltdown?
As I understand, the hydrogen is produced by water thermolysis, which need quite high temperature. This temperature is close to previously observed corium temperatures. So:
Is the eutectic ...
0
votes
3answers
2k views
Why build nuclear reactors on shorelines?
While not directly a physics question, I can't think of forum better capable of answering my question.
In discussions over Japan's nuclear reactor situation the observation was made that reactors ...
