If its safe enough for a navy ships in wartime, surely its safe enough for a car
2007-11-29 19:52:47 · 14 answers · asked by Sporadic 4 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
On Navy ships, the reactors are constantly tended by technicians who have at a MINIMUM months (not sure how long nuclear tech school is, but I'd be shocked if it's less than 6 months, and then they've got OJT afterwards) of training in how to not kill themselves or anyone else when working with those systems.
The overwhelming majority of drivers can't comprehend or properly maintain the cars we have now, and you'd trust them with nuclear power? Fusion, maybe, but not something that can leave pollution that long-term.
Sure, you could make the reactor like a black box that you never have to look inside, but if you idiot proof something, they'll just build a better idiot. The consequences of that better idiot getting their hands on a nuclear reactor would be worse than anything else you could put in their hands.
Road salt + collisions and/or vibration. That is my prediction for how such a system would fail.
2007-11-29 20:58:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A aircraft carrier is large enough to contain a nuclear reactor a car wouldn't. A reactor needs to be shielded by tons of lead to protect from radiation. A car couldn't do that. The technology doesn't exist yet for a reactor to be that small. A aircraft carrier if sunk will have the ocean water to contain it. A car in a accident may kill half a city through a radiation leak. Maybe someday but not today. There is still better ideas than a nuclear reactor, so it very unlikely of ever happening. Have a nice day.
2007-11-29 20:02:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Democrats. The blight of my existence (well, sometimes). They don't seem to like things that work well. You'd think they'd like it better than coal, but apparently not. We can produce reactors pretty fast and operate them safely. If someone says that nuclear power is "dangerous" or not "eco-friendly" they really don't know anything about it. Some people need to stop reading comic books and wake up. Radiation is normal. We get more of it from watching TV for an hour than we do from the whole nuclear power industry in the US. And ever talk on a cell phone? Thats WAY worse than living next to Three Mile Island.
2016-04-06 05:03:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
People are inherently afraid of nuclear power. No government could ever allow that because just the thought of it shocks people. Nuclear = Chernobyl, Iran, North Korea. Bad, dangerous things. I'm not suggesting that nuclear cars would be safe or unsafe - just that it isn't really the issue. Scientists could crash a nuclear car a thousand times with no explosion or disaster, and most people would still never go near one. This makes nuclear cars basically impossible since people would refuse to go on the road if there were nuclear cars there, and the damage to commerce would far outweigh any fuel cost benefits even if they were allowed.
2007-11-29 20:05:42 · answer #4 · answered by The Camel 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Scale. Crashing has nothing to do with it.
A ship the size of a small city can carry that thing, and it's worthwhile to spend the jillion dollars on it, because there are only a few. The size and the dollars don't scale down to where a car is.
2007-11-29 20:47:19 · answer #5 · answered by Firebird 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The nuclear reactor on a ship heats water which in turn powers steam engines. So not only would you have a heavy, shielded reactor setting in the trunk, you'd have a huge steam engine under the hood plus a supply of water for it.
2007-11-30 04:54:21 · answer #6 · answered by bikinkawboy 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You ever heard of terroists? yea they can totally use the car and make a weapon when its nuclear. nuclear is best when its handled by professional scientists that know what they are dealing with. when they land in the hands of civilians..that mite be a bad idea.
2007-11-29 20:00:46 · answer #7 · answered by Curious B 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
1) its expensive.
2) nucelar power plants are ... large.
3) the materials are controlled substances
Do you really want every nation on earth that drives cars, to also have nuclear technology?
2007-11-29 19:57:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Safe enough?! With terrorists in the world these cars would hardly be safe.
2007-11-29 19:55:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
lol! Nuclear reactors are massive.
As well, it would cost a lot for each nuclear powered car to have onboard nuclear engineers.
2007-11-29 20:01:46 · answer #10 · answered by LearningGuy 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋