At 12:23 PM 11/09/99 -0800, Jeremiah Alfrey wrote:
>Does anyone in the list know anything about the regulations for
nuclear power?
Hi,
6 Years in the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power Program (Reactor
Operator) followed by 15+ years in commercial nuclear power (mostly
as a Chief I&C tech)
>I know for a fact that most if not all of the satelites in orbit
have nuclear
>power supplies as well as rechargable batteries.
I can not speak authoritatively on exactly how such things are
handled in the space program...
>If you could get only a small amount of atomic material you could
do that
>differntial heat power technology.
Short answer: You don't want to go there.
>The only draw back is that the power supply might be a little
heavy and you
>wouldn'd want to get it too hot. Like over 500degrees would be a
little too hot.
Oh, there are a number of other drawbacks besides those...
1. Even if it were technically feasible, the headaches of
dealing with the government regulatory bodies would _far_ outweigh
any benefits you could reap. (Licensing, radiation monitoring,
record keeping, etc.)
2. Radiation exposure
3. Expense (Ever notice how US power companies quit building
nuke plants? There are even a number that got moth-balled before
they were even completed.)
4. In the unlikely event this approach somehow became
do-able, and was adopted by a number of people... they would
probably become the targets of terrorists wanting to collect larger
amounts of nuclear material... one victim at a time.
5. Potential for contaminating an area (think 'hit by a car')
6. Liability
I could probably go on, but it doesn't seem necessary. <smile>
My opinion is that continuing advances in battery technology
will be the best solutions for most wearable users.
Earl (who left working in commercial nuclear power to
concentrate on being an ISP)
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