Re: [Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

Well Robin, that certainly bursts my thorium bubble. Should have thought of that myself. It's still not a crazy idea. And as you point out, plutonium could be even better. The main problem with the whole concept is that it would really have to be built in space. Testing this out in the

Re: [Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

I wrote: > Ed Storms worked on the conventional fission rockets shown in this video. > I asked him if he thinks this is plausible. > He does not think it is plausible, for reasons too complicated to describe briefly. - Jed

Re: [Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

What's crazy about it? It appears to be more promising than anything else for interstellar travel, unless we discover the reactionless drive that many have proposed. But there is no reactionless drive yet. So why not try this? Furthermore, I think there might be a major improvement possible

Re: [Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

In reply to Robin's message of Wed, 05 May 2021 06:44:38 +1000: Hi, BTW Plutonium might actually make a better fuel than Uranium, because the number of neutrons created per fission event is higher than for Uranium, ensuring that a larger percentage of the fuel gets burnt, which in turn means

Re: [Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

In reply to Michael Foster's message of Tue, 4 May 2021 20:14:00 + (UTC): Hi, Thorium isn't fissile by slow neutrons, only by very fast neutrons, and then the reaction cross section is hundreds of times lower. So the very thing that keeps it safe to store would likely also make it

Re: [Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

...and only 2 months to Jupiter. better than 2001. harry On Tue, May 4, 2021 at 4:09 PM H LV wrote: > It was new to me. > Upto 1.5% the speed of light with the latest design. > > harry > > On Tue, May 4, 2021 at 12:08 PM Jed Rothwell > wrote: > >> I like it! >> >> Ed Storms worked on the

Re: [Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

It was new to me. Upto 1.5% the speed of light with the latest design. harry On Tue, May 4, 2021 at 12:08 PM Jed Rothwell wrote: > I like it! > > Ed Storms worked on the conventional fission rockets shown in this video. > I asked him if he thinks this is plausible. > > The paper is linked from

Re: [Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

I like it! Ed Storms worked on the conventional fission rockets shown in this video. I asked him if he thinks this is plausible. The paper is linked from the video discussion, here: https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.1990-2371

[Vo]:nuclear salt water reactor for propulsion in space

The Nuclear Salt Water Rocket - Possibly the Craziest Rocket Engine Ever Imagined. https://youtu.be/cvZjhWE-3zM <>