Thursday, October 7, 2010

Can a car run on nuclear power?

It just an article that found when googling around about nuclear. Maybe its a myth, maybe it still in concept or prototype. But in late 50's, Ford as a well known car company these already done a research about it. Ford Nucleon the car was named. 


According to Ford, based on the assumption that future nuclear reactors would be smaller, safer, lighter and more portable. The design called for a power capsule located in the rear of the car, charging stations replacing gas stations and 5,000 miles of driving before recharging or replacing the fuel. As is the case with manyconcept cars, Ford never built the Nucleon -- only a model car half the size of a normal car.


Here is some picture of the Ford Nucleon :





It's look like the car was inspired from a science-fiction movie, but its theoretically logical and can be produced. Nuclear is safe to anyone if it being handled properly. Beside, a nuclear submarine is already and widely used in military, why not car?

One such possibility is nuclear-fueled hydrogen, by using nuclear energy to create clean, safe, affordable hydrogen fuel. Nuclear reactors could also power stations where motorists charge highly efficient batteries. Finally, scientists could create a miniature nuclear power plant and stick it in a car.

Futher info about the nuclear powered car, click here!





21 comments:

  1. Wouldnt it be dangerous for the people in the car?? Wouldnt there be too much of radioactive substances???

    ReplyDelete
  2. the power generated in the car based on the info given by ford is in a smaller scale rather than a nuclear reactor can produce.

    Here is a quote from a reference i found about Ford Nucleon:

    "The setup of it’s nuclear reactor was similar to that of a nuclear submarine, but miniaturized to fit into an automobile. The idea was to use uranium fission to heat the steam generator, which turned water into steam, which could be used to drive a set of turbines. One of the turbines would propel the car, while the other would power an electrical generator. Steam would be turned back into water through condensation, and reused by the steam generator after that. As long as fissile material remained, the reactor would’ve produced power through this closed system."

    any leakage (or maybe due to accident or what so ever) wouldn't cause a big explosion like Chernobyl.

    And without nuclear element such as uranium itself, we already exposed to radiation in our daily life without we even realized it.

    beside, you can run the car to anywhere anytime.. limitless.. how bout that?

    hope i answered your question.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello,
    What a delightful information to know !! That cars may one day run on nuclear energy..I say its possible. Of course now its safe to say that we are still in the early stages of applying nuclear energy into smaller areas of appilcation. However, as the technology advances, I believe that we will be able to fit a nuclear reactor engine at the back of our cars and go on a long green journey ! However the issue of safety comes into play, which then again we hope is resolved to enable cars to use nuclear energy. Just imagine how much natural resources we would save! Regards,

    JASON FRANCIS
    jason_spyboy@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. it would be great if a concept car like that would be made, although to me it seems almost impossible. i even read somewhere that a cherry size nuclear could power a car for 100 years. but the safety issues should be accounted for. imagine a small reactor in each car, and on the roads would be a thousand cars. what if an accident happens? wouldn't it endanger human lives?

    Lim Sze Yoong
    justinsylim@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good day,
    Interesting.It might be a reality in the future, since the automobile revolution is in a great surge these years. Currently, hydrogen-powered car technologies are initiated by BMW and Lotus. BMW is currently working on their BMW Hydrogen 7 project meanwhile Lotus is with their Lotus Elise 111R project.
    Back to nuclear-powered automobile, check out the Cadillac WTF concept car, powered by thorium as nuclear fuel powering batteries. It is designed to endure 100 years without maintenance.
    How about nuclear-powered supercars? Ferrari? Porsche? I wonder

    -Wong Chee Meng-
    -tidus_henry21@yahoo.com-

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nuclear car??!!wow..dats sounds great.but as long as it never release a hazardous gasses as the current vehicles.Whether its a protype o not,if its useful for us,lets make it run on the road as soon as possible.:)

    kantharrajan sandaram
    me083559
    rajan_9849@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. salam n hye.. wow, first time i heard nuclear car.Maybe further studies on this area needed to be taken before we bring it into malaysia. however, nothing is possible! good lucks guys!

    Hazim bin Sharudin
    ME083548
    sena_90@yahoo.com.my

    ReplyDelete
  8. this is wonderful.like this we would never have to worry about cold start in the mornings.my concerns are that submarines are fitted with nuclear power because its meant to last for up to 30 years.but most people change cars every 5 years.so im guessing it will be more expensive to get rid of the car than to make new ones.my other concern is about the safety.you mentioned earlier that any leakage (or maybe due to accident or what so ever) wouldn't cause a big explosion like Chernobyl. but isn't any nuclear disaster still extremely bad.with all the pros and cons i would still love the idea of using a diff power source in the mere future.

    Harsukhvir Singh Godrei
    sukh_x@hotmail.com
    me083547

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's a car with anice design and noble value but if the car is produced would'nt the driver and the passengers exposed to direct radiation as there is no way we could build a 1 meter thick concrete wall to block gamma rays.

    Thirukumaran Ramasamy Chettear
    ME083655
    thiru_5519@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Its sounds great but would'nt the users be exposed to direct radiation as there is'nt a chance to build 1 meter thick wall to block the gamma rays.

    Thirukumaran a/l Ramasamy Chettear
    ME83655
    thiru_5519@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well sorry,but I think that idea is ridiculous..''nuclear reactor was similar to that of a nuclear submarine, but miniaturized to fit into an automobile'',even if this works and uranium fission is used to heat the steam generators,how big will the turbine be??and that turbine will propel the car???just a simple calculation a car weighs around 1500kg,yes the submarine is MUCH heaviear,but it has space in it to support thr whole generator room and its turbine size is enormous..correct me if im wrong,thanks..;)

    OM GAJENDRA KUMARAN
    ME083617
    ogk_om@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice post,but I think there are somethings im unclear with..Firstly, how does the power capsule work? then in your explaination, that the steam can be used to turn the turbines to propel the car,how big are this turbines??an average car weighs about 1500kg(calculations will show that the size of the turbine and rpm needed to move the car), this is a different story in submarine they have their own steam generators chambers,and it has space, thus makin it possible to generate that kind of energy..there is going to be a miniature nuclear reactor at the back of the car??how miniature is it??for nuclear fission to occur the neutron has to come at certain speed and hit the target nucleas to,how long is the firing tube going to be??curious..correct me if im wrong,thanks..cheers to progress...

    OM GAJENDRA KUMARAN
    ME083617
    ogk_om@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. hi,
    its indeed interesting..generally coolants in car are used to cool down the system and same goes with npp.. so, when we ran out of coolant, we basically end up with overhauls but if a mobile nuclear powered car rans out of coolant, imagine wat might happened if it was stuck in penang bridge traffic jamm ?

    utrasenan_87@yahoo.com
    utrasenan a/l gunasegaran
    me083416

    ReplyDelete
  14. one such possibility is nuclear-fueled hydrogen -- using nuclear energy to create clean, safe, affordable hydrogen fuel. Nuclear reactors could also power stations where motorists charge highly efficient batteries. Finally, scientists could create a miniature nuclear power plant and stick it in a car.

    Muhammad Sadiq Bin Anipah
    ME083602

    ReplyDelete
  15. e such possibility is nuclear-fueled hydrogen -- using nuclear energy to create clean, safe, affordable hydrogen fuel. Nuclear reactors could also power stations where motorists charge highly efficient batteries. Finally, scientists could create a miniature nuclear power plant and stick it in a car.

    Muhammad Sadiq Bin Anipah
    ME083602
    sadiqanipah@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. hi,
    i believe that the idea of invention nuclear powered car is a joke or remain as myth because the idea of the invention is really ridiculous because car do not consume much energy compared to submarine.So its just waste of time and money to invent one and its better to focus on hydrogen powered car.

    AMREET RAJ SINGH
    ME083528
    amreet90@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. hi,
    i believe that the invention of nuclear powered car is a joke or just remain as myth because the idea is really ridiculous because cars do not consume much energy compared to submarines.So it just waste of time and money to invent one and its better to focus on hydrogen powered cars.

    AMREET RAJ SINGH
    ME083528
    amreet90@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Can't imagine owning a car with this kind of energy -i would drive all night long with no fear of running out of petrol :D ... without realsing co2 into the air " ït would be such an adventure "
    annanalnajjar@gmail.com
    Anan Issam Alnajjar - Ce084206 -

    ReplyDelete
  19. Nice - Can't Imagine having a car with such an Energy, driving all night long wherever u want to go without recent consirn of running out of petrol! :d
    CE084206
    Anan Issam Alnajjar
    annanalnajjar@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. But it would be a very bad idea. How would you like to drive around with radioactive material? And every time there's a car accident there would be risk of release of radioactivity.

    Muhammad Sadiq Bin Anipah
    ME083602
    sadiqanipah@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. I don't think so. Eventhough it's look like the car was inspired from a science-fiction movie, but its theoretically logical and can be produced. Well, we know that Nuclear is safe to anyone if it being handled properly. But, at the same time, all of us know that some of vehicles drivers did not handle their driving focusly and can cause an accident. Can you imagine what will happen to the environment and country if nuclear car had an accident? Does it will explode hardly?

    Nurul Najiah binti Hashim
    ME083972
    nurul.najiah@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete