Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Concept of the Day: Researchers are exploring the possibility of nuclear-powered cruiser aircraft that would stay aloft semi-permanently, allowing passengers to board and land via smaller, short-range aircraft.
The concept, proposed by Bhupendra Khandelwal of Cranfield University’s School of Engineering in the UK, hinges on the development of low energy nuclear reaction (LENR) technology, which would provide an immense amount of energy and produce very low levels of radiation.
With a safe nuclear power source and biofuel for backup, a cruiser could potentially fly halfway around the world using the energy from 40 liters of water. LENR tech hasn’t come close to reaching that potential yet, though: current devices aren’t very efficient and can’t be reliably turned on and off at will.
No comments:
Post a Comment