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In 1957, the era of atomic energy was dawning and there was tremendous optimism. Walt Disney created a movie called “Our Friend the Atom”, and it captures the optimism beautifully. From the video description: Rare Walt Disney Science series from 1957 describing the advent of the Nuclear Age. Dr. Heinz Haber, a noted scientist in [...]
You Asked: Is it possible to make a nuclear powered aircraft? — Achintya, Mumbai, India Marshall Brain Answers: It is conceptually possible to make a nuclear powered aircraft, yes. And if they were to be created, they would have incredible range. The basic idea behind a jet engine is to burn fuel to heat up [...]
You Asked: How do ice breaking ships work? — Chris, Reading, Penn. Marshall Brain Answers: An ice breaking ship has three things that help it do its job. First, it has a high-strength hull that is able to crash through ice that can grow up to 10 feet (3 meters) thick and then move it [...]
The future of nuclear energy – Uranium, Thorium or Fusion
by Marshall Brain | January 7, 2010
At this moment, every nuclear power plant on earth uses uranium as its fuel. But uranium has four big problems that are holding it back: 1) Uranium fuel creates the worst toxic waste possible, and this waste has to be stored securely for tens of thousands of years. Currently there are tens of thousands of [...]
You Asked: Will we ever see cars run on nuclear power? — Peter, Calgary, Canada Marshall Brain Answers: I’m a big believer in “never say never”, and I have even written an article on nuclear powered cars called How the nCar works (Yes, that was a April Fools article…) But it seems unlikely that we [...]
With concern about global climate change and oil prices both peaking, people are looking for alternatives. Wind and solar are possibilities, but have problems with inconsistency. Traditional nuclear reactors are a proven technology but have perceptual problems with safety and waste products. The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor has the potential to create a safer and [...]
Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) and Steven Chu (U.S. Energy Secretary) talk about America’s energy future and how it may unfold: Topics covered include wind and solar power, carbon sequestration, “clean coal”, nuclear power, the role of science in setting energy policy, etc. [[[Jump to previous MYT - The Army won’t accept 75% of Americans]]]
By now, you’ve probably already heard that Presidents Obama and Sarkozy, along with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have jointly accused Iran of keeping a secret nuclear facility. The leaders are now asking the International Atomic Energy Agency to immediately inspect the facility.
But how can they tell the Iranian operation is intended to make nuclear weapons rather than nuclear power?
The CANDU reactor is a nuclear reactor design developed in Canada that takes a different approach to nuclear energy. In a traditional U.S. reactor design, the reactor uses enriched uranium cooled by normal water. In a CANDU reactor, they use normal U-238 (unenriched uranium) instead. Then they surround the fuel with heavy water. The advantages [...]
According to this article, the push to reach the moon in the 21st century is fueled by helium-3 – an element that is very rare on earth but plentiful on the moon. With just a little bit of helium-3, you can power fusion reactors: Is Helium 3 Exploitation China’s Hidden Lunar Agenda? From the article: [...]
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