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Questions tagged [nuclear-power]

Questions about generation of heat and power by nuclear phenomena, usually but not limited to radioactive decay (fission reactions). For weapons relying on nuclear phenomena, consider [weapons] and [weapon-mass-destruction] instead.

77 votes
12 answers
20k views

Can Average Joe reboot the nuclear power plant?

Setup: The year is 2018. Malicious virus escaped secret lab and managed to kill 99% of all humans between January and April 2016. Not-so-average Joe spent his last two years of basic survival with the ...
Pavel Janicek's user avatar
53 votes
19 answers
34k views

How can I build a Nuclear Reactor in my backyard? [closed]

In my world, having a nuclear reactor at your own house is legal, in fact government donates money in the form of subsidies ( So no constraints of funds). This might have been practical because of ...
Ashwani Tanwar's user avatar
52 votes
10 answers
72k views

Will unattended nuclear power plants actually cause damage to their surroundings?

Scenario: Deadly virus wiped out 80 - 90% world population and it did it pretty quickly (in 2 months) Although it is plausible that among these 10 - 20% of survivors will be people who actually know ...
PavelBot's user avatar
  • 523
24 votes
11 answers
8k views

Why would Fission be used in a world where Fusion reactors exist?

In my world, all terrestrial bodies in the solar-system of over 900 km size have a significant human presence. Earth-moon Travel is as common as an interstate road trip, and Interplanetary travel is ...
user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
725 views

Train-World: Feasibility of radioisotope steam-electric engines

...It's paradox. They left us these technological marvels, yet with all their might and knowledge they failed to prevent their own doom... Excerpt from a lecture by the High Historian of Berlin Falls ...
dot_Sp0T's user avatar
  • 12.1k
37 votes
19 answers
9k views

What would cause a nuclear power plant to break down after 2000 years, but not sooner?

What would cause a nuclear power plant to break down after 2000 years, but not sooner? The setting is a society in a dark age. Their ancestors were considerably more advanced than earth currently is....
Vincent's user avatar
  • 2,329
26 votes
5 answers
6k views

Practicality of a thorium-powered, superheated-steam car?

At the beginning of the 1900s, the Doble Steam Motors Company built steam cars. Their engineers solved many of the problems steam cars had until then by using superheated steam and a condenser to ...
Eriek's user avatar
  • 488
17 votes
6 answers
3k views

Is it possible for an organism to evolve to generate its own nuclear power?

Is it possible for an organism to evolve to biologically generate its own nuclear power? If so, how would this evolution occur?
Jeff Caros's user avatar
10 votes
14 answers
4k views

Nuclear power for nomads

Is it possible to create a scenario where nuclear power is a practical option for nomads living like in Mongolia? There's two possible applications of nuclear power. One is to just use it as a heat ...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

The Frozen Star - Can U-238 reactors be used as a energy source for 10,000 years?

I was watching this Minecraft Animation video based on a scientific concept about what would happen if we froze the Sun - What happens if we Freeze The Sun- Portrayed by Minecraft. In this video, ...
Alastor's user avatar
  • 3,422
6 votes
8 answers
1k views

Running a nuclear power plant in the post-apocalypse: is it possible?

So, the apocalypse has occurred, and for about 150 years humanity spent its time wallowing in misery, sorrow, and so on. So moving on, in the northwest of Nevada there’s an abandoned nuclear reactor, ...
DT Cooper's user avatar
  • 11.3k
6 votes
1 answer
261 views

How self-sufficient a fast breeder nuclear power plant can be in a post-apocalyptic setting?

Setting The full society collapse is starting, and a group of people know it. It may or may not lead to a total extinction event. They can't protect a whole city but a couple of hectares is doable. ...
hijarian's user avatar
  • 257
4 votes
1 answer
544 views

What will happen to a spent nuclear fuel pool without routine maintenance?

Assuming the human population is decimated (how doesn't matter) such that nuclear power plant maintenance is impossible. What would happen to a spent nuclear fuel rod pool? It seems to me that ...
Richard's user avatar
  • 41
-3 votes
1 answer
267 views

Can liquid nuclear fuel be injected and ignited like petro from a fuel injector?

[![enter image description here][5]][5] Model Lightcraft under laser power While sadly the funding for this research has not been forthcoming, there have been proof of principle flights and open air ...
Muze's user avatar
  • 1