Most of us have heard of the British company Rolls Royce. In most of our minds, this company is the manufacturer of some of the most expensive luxury cars on earth. Those of us who fly on jets many times a year know that Rolls Royce is the manufacturer of some of the finest jet engines on the earth. They have been building these fine jet engines for over 75 years. In an irony of history, Britain gave the Soviet Union a gift of 8 Rolls Royce jet engines. These engines went on to power the Mig-15 jet fighter.
Only people enthusiastically involved in the space industry know that Rolls Royce is a builder of some of the best nuclear reactors used to power spacecraft on deep space missions. Building a nuclear reactor for a spacecraft is a huge challenge. The reactor has to take the stresses of a spacecraft launch and high-velocity trips through space. These reactors have to be able to stand wild extremes of temperature as they would never experience on earth (-400 degrees Fahrenheit to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.) These reactors have to be able to endure all sorts of radiation bombardments a ground-based nuclear reactor would never have to endure.
There is another giant challenge that these nuclear reactors must overcome. In the event of a launch failure or other spacecraft failure, the reactor will fall to earth at high speed and hit the ground with a hard impact. It must be tough enough to stand up to the impact. A release of radioactive material from such a reactor would be a public relations disaster. Violent protests and lawsuits would follow.
Rolls Royce is now offering these reactors to companies all over the world that generate electricity. There is going to be an evolution away from generating electric power at large power stations to much smaller power stations disbursed widely and can respond better to local power demands. Small nuclear reactors would make this possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment