Nuclear powerplant on Mars by 2030

[Flagg]

I know the link to that report is old but I read about this recently in a Science Journal about the possibility of building a nuclear powerplant on Mars. Was pretty interesting I thought and could be mankinds salvation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3162129.stm

[Kärnfysikern]

Damn interesting engineering project

But I dont understand why they would construct it on site. A small nuclear reactor small enough to be transported there in one piece could easily be built. Depends on the power they want from it though. But 10-100MWe should be plenty for a long time. They dont even need any containment structure on mars, just basic radiation shielding.

At site the main problem would be cooling it, no water and very thin atmosphere so no easy place to dump excess heat. Maby they could use nitrogen from the atmosphere as cooling gas. But there isnt very much nitrogen in the air there. They would probably need radiators.

[mcpeepants]

Where are they going to get fuel for the nuclear power plant? Is uranium and plutonium readily accessible on Mar's surface?

[Kärnfysikern]

If they use fuel with high enrichment or of the reactor is a breeder the plant can run for 30-40 years without a refuling. So I assume they bring all the fuel needed with the reactor.

[RA]

Thats why they need ya...hurry up and get through school

Damn interesting engineering project

But I dont understand why they would construct it on site. A small nuclear reactor small enough to be transported there in one piece could easily be built. Depends on the power they want from it though. But 10-100MWe should be plenty for a long time. They dont even need any containment structure on mars, just basic radiation shielding.

At site the main problem would be cooling it, no water and very thin atmosphere so no easy place to dump excess heat. Maby they could use nitrogen from the atmosphere as cooling gas. But there isnt very much nitrogen in the air there. They would probably need radiators.

[Kärnfysikern]

Thats why they need ya...hurry up and get through school

Only 8 months untill I have my masters but I doubt the russians are looking for swedish nuclear physcists and europe is to ***** to develop nuclear space applications

So lets hope something opens up at NASA instead