Our Primes don't seem to be helping

He didn't go into specifics but that is not description of the battery or the mission of the battery. Or even the nuclear material used.

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Thorium reactors.

Problem solved.

SAMSUNG-SM-G935A ?

 

You do realize these thermoelectric units generate about 100 watts and are ridiculously expensive? They are only used on deep space missions where there is insufficient solar flux for solar panels or dust buildup like on Mars. Plutonium 238 is the isotope in use, and even if they get the 238 from spent fuel, that's not going to revolutionize nuclear power. The generator on the upcoming 2020 Mars mission is the same as what is up on Mars now on Curiosity.

 

RTGs have been used in space for years and also in terrestrial applications. The russians did them for radio beacons in siberia and ocean buoys.

They're very expensive relative to the amount of electricity they give, but on the other hand they work for a very long time with no moving parts.

I'm generally with @Trollbait on this one... although nuclear power hasn't always been done right, we do have a few good examples of it out there and they are capable of providing economically viable power for a long time to come.

 

Also not the point.

Fast-neutron reactor - Wikipedia

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Sorry, but that's not the reason I read in the article I sited in comment #39. Two specific nuclear plants I am talking about are likely to be going out of business because of high cost of operation and low profitability. They simply can not compete against cheap natural gas and oil. It's purely economical reason. I don't know of any plan to build new generation of reactors anytime soon around where I live.

 

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The man happened to be comming from meeting about these satilights with new nuclear reactors in them. Focus was the disposal of highly radioactive waste being processed through 3 stages of fast reactors to make them non radioactive producing power.

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You may be referring to the concepts for powering potential Mars colonies. Those may be fast breeder reactors, but they won't be revolutionizing power generation on earth.

 

No nuclear waste on Mars.

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They want a planet that their descendants can live on.

 

If I were you, I would keep this valuable information to myself and go buy all the stock I can afford in this "can't miss" technology. It's a sure winner.

 

Fast-neutron reactor - Wikipedia



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Nuclear waste = spent fuel rods

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Fast neutron (breeder) reactors were among the earliest reactors developed in the 1940's. There are a handful of them in the world, and yet there are many more "traditional" nuclear reactors operating. There isn't a shortage of uranium, so reprocessing spent fuel rods into new fuel for fast reactors is not economical. So, these aren't lining up to replace thermal nuclear reactors.

Don't let me dissuade you from getting in on the ground floor and making a killing.

 

Light duty vehicles (translation = cars, SUVs, pickups, etc) are actually the biggest source of transportation-related GHG in the U.S.:

So there is value in making already fuel efficient vehicles more efficient. However, the biggest gains would most likely come from getting those 10mpg urban assault vehicles into the 20+mpg range.

 

Thanks for the correction. Not the first time I've conflated CO2 emissions with the really nasty HC, nox and particulates. Probably won't be the last either but we can all take relief knowing I'm not a climate scientist

 

The biggest gains are always (not most likely) in improving the highest-use vehicles. Making a 40 mpg Corolla into a Hybrid 50 mpg Corolla doesn't save nearly as much fuel as making a 15 mpg Suburban into a 20 mpg Suburban. At 12,000 miles annual mileage, the Corolla savings is 60 gals and the Suburban savings is 200 gals.

 

Absolutely.

However, I view those of us at the diminishing returns end of fuel economy improvements (i.e. Corolla to Corolla Hybrid) as the ones driving the HEV/PHEV/BEV technology innovations that are eventually used in getting that Suburban from 15 to 20 mpg.