"Nightjar" wrote in message
...
On 23/01/2014 14:57, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 23/01/14 14:17, Nightjar wrote:
On 21/01/2014 11:17, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 21/01/14 09:33, Nightjar wrote:
...
OTOH, the Laser Power Systems thorium powered car might well be a
better
option than the ICE car, if they can sort out the engineering problems
of utilising all the energy it can create. That really is a technology
in its infancy.

Colin Bignell

More likely you will see nuclear powered freight haulers.

Where I would expect to see it first is in military vehicles. The
logistical advantages of never needing to refuel would justify spending
lots of money on the development. I still want a nuclear powered car
though.

Umm. the problem with that is cooling pure and simple, shielding and
weight.

Its not hard to make a 20-50,000 bhp reactor. But air cooling it is non
trivial.

And it still needs a lot of shielding if you are going to sit next to it
all day.

The laser excited thorium reactor LPS are working on is a beta emitter. To
crash proof it for use in cars, they are fitting it inside a 3" thick
stainless steel case, which is heavy duty overkill shielding for beta
particles.

And you need some way to turn the heat into mechanical energy.

That seems to be the stumbling block ATM; creating a steam turbine that
will give enough power output while still being small enough to fit into a
car.

You'd still have to stop to pick up water.