Standing Bear wrote:
Oh yes a 'plane' can be built that can be powered by nuclear systems. The problem is what happens if one crashes.
You seem to be missing the point. I am not recommending the use of fission reactors onboard airplanes. With our present technology I think this would be a dreadful idea. I said that fission reactors can easily synthesize hydrogen based fuel that can be used for airplanes. This was first suggested in the late 1940s.
The point is that just because we run out of naturally occurring hydrocarbon fuel, that does not mean we have to stop using the stuff. It means we have to synthesize it from fission or solar energy. Both solutions are well within our technical grasp. If oil goes to $100 a barrel both will become cost-effective.
Of course many people have legitimate fears about fission reactors, and present-day reactor models are far too expensive and unreliable. I am not particularly fond of them myself. But I am sure we can improve them, and we can live with them for the next few hundred years if we must. By that time we should have some sort of fusion or space-based solar. Both of these sources could provide millions of times more energy than we now consume. Both could easily generate enough energy to vaporize all of the planets in week or so. If we depend mainly on uranium fission for the next 200 years, we will probably experience some catastrophic meltdowns and build up a good-sized mountain of spent fuel, which will be a big headache to deal with. But these outcomes are nowhere near as bad as the pollution and long-term damage from burning an equivalent amount of coal. Present-day supplies of uranium fuel are sufficient to last thousands of years.
- Jed
