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**Jim Cate** · 03-04-2012, 22:25

Folks, your electrical supply worries are over:

[NOW AVAILABLE] TigerDirect.com - INTRODUCING THE WORLD'S FIRST HOME MINI-NUCLEAR GENERATOR

My only worry is that it isn't said to be marine quality, nor is it Lloyd's approved.

Cheers,

Jim

s/v Holiday · 03-04-2012, 23:44

I can't believe I just bought new batteries an solar panels. Between this and that magnet generator I see on the inter web, the utility company's must be shaking In their boots.

sailorboy1 · 04-04-2012, 04:02

What a great April Fool joke ad.

**Wotname** · 04-04-2012, 07:20

I love the fact it " can generate 1000KHGz of power". I must get some of those HGz thingies.

**Jim Cate** · 04-04-2012, 15:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wotname

I love the fact it " can generate 1000KHGz of power". I must get some of those HGz thingies.

Yeah, but I don't think that they will fit in my T-105s!

Jim

Khagan1227 · 04-04-2012, 15:32

Awesome ad!

tager · 04-04-2012, 15:56

KILLAHELLAGIGAHERTZ!

**Wotname** · 04-04-2012, 16:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by tager

KILLAHELLAGIGAHERTZ!

Yeah, probably more KILLA than anything else.
Imagine trying to clear into NZ on an American yacht with your own private nuke genny on board. Forget the guns.....

bobconnie · 04-04-2012, 18:24

Just think ya could mount it on the back deck and the robbers and bad guys see it and just leave !!! Real safety measure !! LOL

maxingout · 04-04-2012, 19:05

When we traveled in the Empty Quarter of Arabia in our Land Rovers, we visited a remote location that had nuclear powered batteries abandoned in a concrete block building. One of my friends was hired by the government to take geiger counters and measure the radiation level around and in the building. He sent some people into the building with geiger counters as he did not want to go inside himself. The building was radioactive.

Several years later, I met a friend who did not know about the radioactive site. He was caught in a dust storm, and sought shelter in the building for the night. The bedouins had removed all of the radioactive signs from the outside of the building, so that he did not know they were inside a radioactive structure. The last time I heard, the nuclear powered battery back was still there.

The battery pack had been placed initially to power a remote weather station.

Radioactive battery packs do exist. I am told that are found on some spacecraft.

Since Jim Cate is a retired physicist, you could comment on radioactive battery packs.

**Jim Cate** · 04-04-2012, 19:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxingout

When we traveled in the Empty Quarter of Arabia in our Land Rovers, we visited a remote location that had nuclear powered batteries abandoned in a concrete block building. One of my friends was hired by the government to take geiger counters and measure the radiation level around and in the building. He sent some people into the building with geiger counters as he did not want to go inside himself. The building was radioactive.

Several years later, I met a friend who did not know about the radioactive site. He was caught in a dust storm, and sought shelter in the building for the night. The bedouins had removed all of the radioactive signs from the outside of the building, so that he did not know they were inside a radioactive structure. The last time I heard, the nuclear powered battery back was still there.

The battery pack had been placed initially to power a remote weather station.

Radioactive battery packs do exist. I am told that are found on some spacecraft.

Since Jim Cate is a retired physicist, you could comment on radioactive battery packs.

Gee Dave, that was a long time ago! But, yeah, folks did use these things.
The ones that I was familiar with contained a LOT of Pu-238 which is a shorter half-life, non-fissile isotope of Pu. The Pu-238 undergoes an alpha decay, and due to the very short range of the alpha particles, all the decay energy ends op as heat in the package. There were big stacks of thermocouples in there too, and these converted the heat into electricity. There is no penetrating radiation associated with this decay, so in theory no external radiation hazard. In practice there was often some Am-241 associated with the mix, and that isotope produces a 60 Kev gamma ray, which while not very energetic, often caused some external exposure.

But, none of these processes would make the building radioactive. If the containment of the Pu in the battery was breached, then a serious contamination situation could arise, for gram-for-gram, the 238 is far more radioactive than "deadly Pu-239", so dear to the hearts of the media. I have no idea what your friend was sent to measure, but likely it wasn't a Geiger counter, for they are not useful to detect alpha contamination.

There! Aren't you sorry you asked?

Cheers,

Jim

cwyckham · 04-04-2012, 20:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Gee Dave, that was a long time ago! But, yeah, folks did use these things.
The ones that I was familiar with contained a LOT of Pu-238 which is a shorter half-life, non-fissile isotope of Pu. The Pu-238 undergoes an alpha decay, and due to the very short range of the alpha particles, all the decay energy ends op as heat in the package. There were big stacks of thermocouples in there too, and these converted the heat into electricity. There is no penetrating radiation associated with this decay, so in theory no external radiation hazard. In practice there was often some Am-241 associated with the mix, and that isotope produces a 60 Kev gamma ray, which while not very energetic, often caused some external exposure.

But, none of these processes would make the building radioactive. If the containment of the Pu in the battery was breached, then a serious contamination situation could arise, for gram-for-gram, the 238 is far more radioactive than "deadly Pu-239", so dear to the hearts of the media. I have no idea what your friend was sent to measure, but likely it wasn't a Geiger counter, for they are not useful to detect alpha contamination.

There! Aren't you sorry you asked?

Cheers,

Jim

Still in use today on the Voyageur spacecraft. In fact, any spacecraft going too far beyond the asteroids has no choice but to use one. No solar that far out and missions last decades, so you can't just use some sort of chemical fuel (you need all that for thrusters to orient your high gain antenna towards earth).

maxingout · 04-04-2012, 23:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Gee Dave, that was a long time ago! But, yeah, folks did use these things.
The ones that I was familiar with contained a LOT of Pu-238 which is a shorter half-life, non-fissile isotope of Pu. The Pu-238 undergoes an alpha decay, and due to the very short range of the alpha particles, all the decay energy ends op as heat in the package. There were big stacks of thermocouples in there too, and these converted the heat into electricity. There is no penetrating radiation associated with this decay, so in theory no external radiation hazard. In practice there was often some Am-241 associated with the mix, and that isotope produces a 60 Kev gamma ray, which while not very energetic, often caused some external exposure.

But, none of these processes would make the building radioactive. If the containment of the Pu in the battery was breached, then a serious contamination situation could arise, for gram-for-gram, the 238 is far more radioactive than "deadly Pu-239", so dear to the hearts of the media. I have no idea what your friend was sent to measure, but likely it wasn't a Geiger counter, for they are not useful to detect alpha contamination.

There! Aren't you sorry you asked?

Cheers,

Jim

I am glad I asked. It would not surprise me if they had breached the containment because the bedouins are awesome scavengers of whatever they find "abandoned" in remote desert locations. The radiation signs and fence were gone, and if they could dismantle things on the inside of the containment area, it would probably be gone as well.