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 ...
Be good here on mother Earth for remote science outposts, small military camps, emergency power after disasters when economy of scale brings it down.
or in my pickup and boat
It's not so much the reactor, it's how you turn the heat generated by the reactor into electricity.
The RTGs used in space missions to date (including the Curiosity rover and the New Horizons mission) are less than 10% efficient.
Presumably, this one is somewhat better.
Sounds like a copy of the Soviet’s TOPAZ thermionic reactor.
I want one for my camper.
Come back when you have an understanding of pebble bed reactors.
They can be as small as your central air conditioner outside your home.......................
I had to look up a stirling engine because traditional reactors converted the heat to electricity using team. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine
Come back when you have an understanding of pebble bed reactors.
More pipe dreams from Phys.org.
K25 was the primary U235 enrichment facility until it was closed back in 1985.
Unless someone can make Pu239 decay faster than 1/2 life of 25k years, the chance of large amounts of U235 lying around is slim to none.
OMG! We have to shot down all the nuclear power plants now?
“K25 was the primary U235 enrichment facility until it was closed back in 1985. .Unless someone can make Pu239 decay faster than 1/2 life of 25k years, the chance of large amounts of U235 lying around is slim to none.”
Seriously, consider the fact that all our commercial plants use U235 as a fuel ...
The link does not mention total launch weight for the entire system.
Anyone have a ballpark estimate?
Thanks.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20160012354.pdf
See 4th slide for mass of several variants.
Thanks. Excellent link.
The device appears to be constructed in a linear arrangement.
If that’s correct, it’s almost 50 feet in length, which might be a bigger problem than the weight, which is almost 8,000 pounds.
Sounds like a copy of the Soviet’s TOPAZ thermionic reactor.
If I’m reading correctly the TOPAZ uses thermionic power generation.
The Kilopower uses a mechanical Sterling engine?
” it’s almost 50 feet in length,”
It looks closer to 6.5 feet.
Nice find.
I was looking for the weight and fell down a rabbit hole... easily distracted, but enjoyable, none the less.
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