Monday, March 21, 2016

Never Ask the Internet To Do Anything

Welcome back to another space-based post about nuclear energy! Psyche! This time it's about that neat ocean exploring stuff I oh-so-briefly mentioned. The theme for this post comes from here. I found this article hilarious, especially the other names they said were suggested (I love British humor). This sparked an interesting question: what powers it? There appears to be a significant lack of gas stations in the Arctic and long exploration missions away from land, researching and lots of moving to study the ocean floor and there appears to be a significant lack of gas stations in the arctic.

ENTER, NUCLEAR POWER!

It's probably not nuclear powered but Russia uses nuclear powered ships as icebreakers since they have a lot of power and can go for long periods without refueling. China is also pushing forward plans to build a nuclear plant, the ACPR50S reactor, capable of powering a small island or a ship. Old Russian nuclear icebreakers sound kind of scary but maybe Chinese-designed reactors are better? Depends on your opinion of China, I suppose. Nuclear power can also only extend your mission for so long before you have to stop for food and other supplies. We need power somehow, nuclear may be the way to go, the risks or sinking a reactor to the ocean floor are probably pretty small compared to on land. Do you guys have any other energy suggestions? Have you heard about and neat new technology?

-Michael




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7 comments:

  1. UnknownMarch 21, 2016 at 4:43 PM

    Lol at the top name suggestion. Since it costs less than a billion dollars to build, I would be that it isn't run on nuclear power. They may be able to use gas and just turn off the engines when they get to their research location. Then, electricity, heat, etc. could be run with auxiliary generators.

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    1. Michael.B-7pdMarch 22, 2016 at 8:13 PM

      Very true, it said natural gas turbine engines, forgot to say that in here! Probably some solar panels for base life support since it's always sunny in the poles (I think?)

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  2. EthanMarch 22, 2016 at 3:05 PM

    I take it ice breakers are the large ships that will break the ice layer so as to keep shipping routes open? I believe that SMR type reactors would be useful for ships but ti all depends on the cost.

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  3. UnknownMarch 22, 2016 at 7:27 PM

    I dont honestly like the idea of smashing a nuclear power plant into thick ice. Thats just asking for things to go wrong, and seeing as its russia that is doing it, I would bet somethings have and they just havent reported it.

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    1. Michael.B-7pdMarch 22, 2016 at 8:16 PM

      In Soviet Russia, you don't break ice, ice break you kind of mentality? Probably not the brightest idea but what happens if the ice moves around you and you're trapped for a week with no fuel? I can only imagine the living conditions on the icebreakers but that might be a product of the movies I've seen.

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  4. UnknownMarch 22, 2016 at 8:26 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. UnknownMarch 22, 2016 at 8:27 PM

    I thought the main ice-related purpose for nuclear reactors was desalination? I.e making some drinkable water for thirst souls with the power of fission

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