agachak Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 (edited) first think of normal nucklear plant and how much it produces energy? then think of nuckealer submarine reactor and how much it produces ? and then this why dont they use in space stations/shutles nucklear energy reactor and build it inside a freezer so it cools down and if submarine nucklear reactor is efficient enough why dont use them to power up towns factories building them inside a freezer too Edited February 16, 2013 by agachak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 and then this why dont they use in space stations/shutles nucklear energy reactor and build it inside a freezer so it cools downNuclear reactors are heavy and potentially very polluting. Not really suitable for space stations, at least not in the form of a fission reactor. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators are used in space probes for example. I don't think one can get a lot of power from these and so are not really useful on a space station, but are good for space probes. One also has to contend with the radio active nature of the materials used even after the life span of the device. and if submarine nucklear reactor is efficient enough why dont use them to power up towns factories building them inside a freezer tooWe do use nuclear reactors to generate the power that is distributed to homes and industry. I assume you are thinking of small reactors used by private companies for their own use? Safety is probably the biggest worry, but also cost. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 You don't build reactors inside a giant freezer because the thermal energy is what you're using to boil water, make steam to drive a turbine and make electricity. You want them to be hot. Besides, where would you get the energy to run the freezer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agachak Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 You don't build reactors inside a giant freezer because the thermal energy is what you're using to boil water, make steam to drive a turbine and make electricity. You want them to be hot. Besides, where would you get the energy to run the freezer? u wuld get energy to freezer of course from reactor it self Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 u wuld get energy to freezer of course from reactor it self You get less energy than you'd need, since both processes are far from 100% efficient. Besides, what would be the point? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Nuclear reactors are heavy and potentially very polluting. Not really suitable for space stations, at least not in the form of a fission reactor.Also, there'd have to be a massive redesign of the secondary plant to use a steam plant. Gravity helps a lot in everything from steam generation to condensation to net positive suction head for the pumps. You don't build reactors inside a giant freezer because the thermal energy is what you're using to boil water, make steam to drive a turbine and make electricity. You want them to be hot. Besides, where would you get the energy to run the freezer?Well, you could have electrical cooling for the condensers. It would probably still be a major energy concern considering the thermodynamic load of the vast array of condensers. And you'd still need a heat sink somewhere. The freezer thing only really uses up energy and pushes the problem back. u wuld get energy to freezer of course from reactor it selfLike swansont said, there will always be losses. You can't run a generator off of a motor forever because of the same reason-energy losses. and if submarine nucklear reactor is efficient enough why dont use them to power up towns factories building them inside a freezer tooAside from the freezer bit, we actually do use nuclear plants for terrestrial energy production. Not so much in America, but France gets a large portion of their electricity via nuclear reactors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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