/sci/ - Science & Math

>>4613847
The closest things we even have to SSTO are either the SR-71 or the X-15, and one required a lifting craft, the other was.. a hangar queen of epic proportions.

>>4613863

>>4613836
>>4613864
Hey, I'm sorry, but when the nuclear navy is the only nuclear program that hasn't had accidents, and thus the only good positive example of nuclear energy on the planet, I'll accept your comments.

Also, are you frustrated that civilian energy technology doesn't even come close?

>>4613293
you find a cheap fast way to orbit

turns out the cheapest way is MULTISTAGE FOREVER broski, because we haven't cracked scramjet technology yet.

>>4576690
You've never gone for a board of any type? I mean literally for all important board examinations they are oral, I mean fuck if you know the material, oral exams aren't that bad.

>>4574648

Because the engineering for Graphite based reactors has been more completely done ( than an entirely new chemistry which was rejected and now exists only on paper, which.. I don't trust purely paper designs anymore.

Also, we can have dedicated reprocessing plants if anything, and keep the majority of plants on PWR based designs until ITER stops shitting itself and gives us fusion technology.

Fuel even without reprocessing is.. we won't run out of it anytime within the feasible lifetime of america.

>>4574622
If a meltdown has occured, you fucked up. I mean I have seen some shit occur, but our operators and reactor designs prevent NUCLEAR DISASTERS.

Also, contaiment tanks for overflow, natural circulation to remove decay heat LONG before meltdown should occur.

you literally have shit knowledge about how nuclear operations occur, and think HURR WE SHOULD BUILD REACTORS SO THEY SHOULD EXPLODE HURR.

no, you build them so that.. there are multiple layers of safeguards so even if all power is lost to the core, and there is no emergency diesel generation system, the reactor will cool through basic physical principals.

>>4574610

then you undergo a shutdown evolution and scream for a bit while the robots fix things. (also it starts loosing power, it is a graphite design which is actively safe, which is appealing, yayyy)

>>4574610
>not having various ion exchangers before dumping highly radioactive products
>2012
...do you even know the first thing about the actual operation, not just 101 and 201 level classes and internet diagrams of nuclear power plants?

>>4573983
Hell, I work(ed) with PWRs for most of my adult life now, we have got them down to such a science we can use them for warships.

also

>>4573958
>looks over proven safe performance.

You are an idiot, at best, I mean you literally are needing of a massive upgrade.

PWRs are the proven ideal design, until we can prove that pebble bed designs work, and are safe.

>>4573691
Of course not, as long as the NRC is smart.

Also Thorium does not directly fission, you have to breed it, which involves lots of high energy gammas, which is a pain to work on.

Also, every reactor has poisons to be extracted, and conventional nuclear plants can scale down in use, though why would you want to, the efficiencies make no sense below some sizes unless its a training unit.

>>4567468
>underwater nuclear reactor
how did you solve the issues of... heat without the cheats that submarines do I'm curiously.

>>4526824
Ha, if we talk about thought experiments, I want to do this. I want to get a place as close to Eden as possible, get children of all races together, have the workers raise the children, and see what happens, but the workers must wear masks that conceal their identies/mask their voices.

I want to prove to racists one and for all that racism only exists as part of the social context of this world

>>4500961
I can answer these questions.

Nuclear engineers are actual engineers who work with the hard numbers WRT nuclear engineering, things like neutron fluxes, shielding requirements, effects that radation has on systems, etc.

Nuclear engineers work from places like GE on microwaves and X-Ray machinery, to Westinghouse, to at least in America, for Naval Reactors, which has the largest ammount of mobile nulclear power plants.

An undergrad will get you a job however, post grad is always looked upon favoribly.

Fusion research is more of the realm of pure physicists as it is a highly expermental process even in the year 2012.

Nuclear technicians are the highly trained skilled workers who work on nuclear reactors in both power generation, medical isotope generation, and research facilities. Some of them are former sailors who worked on military nuclear reactors, and others are civilians who received training from various programs.

>>4450241
THIS. I work with nuclear reactors, and literally we have highly trained techs constantly clean and do stupid low level repairs because even the most advanced reactors... have pumps break, electrical components go bad.. the same problems that happen to any electronic system, except that these parts are needed to make sure mr reactor does not have a bad day. Repair work is why most power plants have large crews, because machines will break, a lot, and maintenance is the biggest pain with high technology as of now.

>>4450231
Uh, we literally have rebuilt the B-52 multiple times, and have huge crews of airmen to literally take apart the engine, look and make sure itstill flies.

Also, the problem with space stations is simple. THEY WILL FALL DOWN ON THEIR OWN. Physics predicts they will fall into earth's gravity and crash down, hell ,its a problem with abandoned satelites, they will break up thanks to micrometeoriids (another danger of space, literally tiny invisible rocks of DOOM), and then fall down. You need to spend energy to constantly boost up stations. Hell, ISS has to do this for example! If we do not control destroy them, they will break up and become space wrecks.

Also, look up MD-11s. they are all converted passenger DC-10s for example.

http://www.prlog.org/10117337-st-aerospace-completes-md-11bcf-conversion-programme-for-ups.html

Turns out that its a LOT cheaper to insure a small 2-3 man crew than 200+ passengers and aircrew!.

(Also private industry abandons satellites all the time, look at all the old as shit telstar satellites that become pollution. In space, you want to crash shit that isn't useful or else it becomes space junk, and a danger to all space travelers.

>>4450220
It reminds me of overhaul periods for submarines. Why do they take so long? Turns out upgrading 1960s and 1970s systems to any sort of modern standard requires massive upgrades, not to mention the critical parts, and we have the advantage of working under atmosphere and without water, while in space, you do not have that luxury. Overhauls only work when repair costs are cheap or the hull can be totally isolated for repairs, which in space does not exist at this time.

>>4450217
F-22s can reach space right now. The problem with space is that there is nothing of worth for humans, but drones.. drones are cheap and reguallry launch
>>4450214
Uh, we have been doing this for years, they are in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, but they mine for oil, and not modules of resources.

Also, upgrading in space is... very very very hard. As in, it is barely possible hard, as in the only good example we have is Hubble and even that was a massive crapshoot at best. Space is literally the hardest is pretty much well.. you have no idea how hard it is. Also, computers in space aren't just PLUG IN like an el cheapo del.

>>4450206
Hell, there is a reason why most air freight uses older passenger planes, they aren't insurable for people anymore, and unlike the military where they pretty much rebuild airframes, that isn't an option for passenger airliners!

>>4449741
military test craft
spaceships
asteroids
(I live near a major military base, and half the transports look like UFOs at night, I can imagine what drones/test craft must look like to the untrained eye.

>>4409321
Thats one of the sterotypes of the 40 something Engineer who does that, they start up all these small/medium business in the South/West, so yeah, if you are willing to save up and plan, its not impossible!

>>4409304
>Hate the military industrial complex
>Use the Internet
>Phone has GPS
>The list goes on.

The military industrial complex is responsible for so many of the things you have come to enjoy, hating on them and caling them scum is a sign of a dumb freshmen

(In theory yes I'm an Engineer, I don't have a PE, and won't for a while! )

I work with atomic power, because it turns out.. the military is one of the largest users of Atomic energy in the country. If you want a job that pays the big bucks, its going to be for a company that... does not say practice the most ethical things in some way or another, so enjoy your ethical poverty!

>>4409015
>>4408997
I come from the opposite point of view. I work for the Goverment because they paid for my education, and after I'm out, I get a nice paycheck to sit in an office, network now and again, and explain to people how to work to exacting standards and work during crunch time.

>>4409025
I put in 20 hours +40 hours or so of courswork a week when it got bad, now I'm putting in 17 or so +40 hours of coursework, so eh, it can't really be helped. Effort in = Effort out, and GET HELP. Use those office hours, idiot, use them and get to know your professors!

>>4376904
Solar voltaics are a fucking dumb thing for mass scales, all the ultra-large setups are solar steam/super hot liquid metal setups, using mirrors to drive heat to a liquid, which drives turbines you know the drill. This can pretty much serve as base load, but the problem with this setup is that its land consuming (and potentially water consuming for the condensors) but it does have the ability to scale up absurdly high and it has been proven.

I'm still an orbital solar fan, just for the idea of getting Earth off of Carbon, so we can let the planet restore itself while we work on carbon capture technologies to help return the planet to some sort of ideal state.

>>4376836
those are the fuckers, but let me tell you. They are dry. They are meant to be referred to for problem solving and training, and not casual reading in any way.