Posted on 05/03/2018 1:06:39 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Kilopower is a small, lightweight fission power system capable of providing up to 10 kilowatts of electrical power—enough to run several average households—continuously for at least 10 years. Four Kilopower units would provide enough power to establish an outpost. A video explains how kilopower works.
The prototype power system uses a solid, cast uranium-235 reactor core, about the size of a paper towel roll. Passive sodium heat pipes transfer reactor heat to high-efficiency Stirling engines, which convert the heat to electricity.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
“pebble bed reactors”
Every single time I hear that term, I picture a beautiful stream in the woods with an incredible looking bed made of all sorts of smooth rocks teeming with life like three headed fish that glow and neon blue frog/beaver hybrids ... obviously, I know nothing about them :-P.
I think we should make it rhyme with “kilometer”.
Try it.
Paragraphs, phrases, sentences...words.
They are not my friends.
That said, there are many people knowledgeable and friendly with words.
So, I asked around.
Might be like orange and silver, and others I’ve forgotten?
https://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?typeofrhyme=perfect&loc=dmapi2&Word=kilometer
Re: “It looks closer to 6.5 feet.”
Click on the slide link in #16.
If it’s linear, it’s 15.5 meters.
There is also a second photo link at the bottom of the page of the posted article.
It shows a cropped version of the reactor in a vertical arrangement that definitely looks big. That photo is what got me curious about the size and weight.
“Click on the slide link in #16.
If it’s linear, it’s 15.5 meters.”
Link says 4m and 1800kg.
“The device appears to be constructed in a linear arrangement.
If that’s correct, it’s almost 50 feet in length, “
In that case, the final length is much less than the sum of the individual lengths.
“the chance of large amounts of U235 lying around is slim to none.”
The slide is for four different kinds of Sterling converters.
I thought all those parts were assembled in one reactor.
However, the two photographs show a vertical reactor that is well over 6.5 feet.
U-235 does not come from Pu-239. Naturally occurring Uranium is 99.3% U-238 and 0.7% U-235. However, Pu-239 is the result of U-238 capturing a neutron and then 2 beta decays later, you have Pu-239. There, you learn something new everyday.
A power source like that could power a Cessna-sized aircraft and keep it aloft for 10 years!
A mini sub could stay underwater for months (food limitation).
PU239 alpha decay to U235
“the chance of large amounts of U235 lying around is slim to none.”
The US government has over 50,000 pounds of >90% HEU just ‘lying around’ ...
Correct. The heat source in both is a delayed critical reaction in solid U235.
Japan sent back some 300 plus kilograms of weapons grade Pu 239 about two years ago. Maybe they have a stash of 235 tucked away in a closet?
If not, perhaps the Global Nuclear Fuels-Americas, LLC facility in Wilmington, NC. Laser process.
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