this is a continuing of rtg nuclear vechile
Starting with the rtg fuel (heating cell) to get 150-250 degrees celcius each cell will nead 20,000 curies being less than 150 grams a gram cost $20.00the fuel would cost a litte less than $3000 x2 $6000.
The sr90 will be about 1 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm tall cyndrical shape each weighing about 2000 curies each.
Each rod will be incased a sythetic diamond made from 10 ct of sythetic diamond costing about $60 x10 $600 x2 $1200 this brings cost total $7,200 on the on fuel and casing only.
The heat cell the configuration will look like two flanges with pipes conecting the two the distance between the two flanges will be 10 cm
the the nine sr90 rods wil be arranged around the rim with one in the center there will also be colunms to keep it from collapsing under high pressure. the size of the cell will be 10cm in diameter and 15cm tall the cell will also be a cylinder. the cell will have four motorized (solar powered) doors made from titanium (and have high heat inslating ability and impact resistance) that would only open when helium is being heated and closes when all the gas leaves making a cool enviroment when filling the tanks or in an emergency such as an accident.
the cost to manufacture this this cell will be around $1,000 each x10 10,00 x2 $20,000.
This whole cell will be in the center of a carbon fiber tank and the gas input will only be 1000psig 80 cu. ft heating will be to only 3200psi far below eruption level of carbon tanks.
The cost for two of these cells would be around $30,000 then you also have to take into account the cost of the following: car, compressor, wind turbines, solar panels, electric motor, batteries, and the generator (engine) at a max it would be around $90,000
$30,000 for the cell and fuel
$30,000 for a car that will be safe enough to use nuclear fuel and not scare anyone
$30,000 for the generator and drivetrain
and the only question is it actually worth it since the average driver only would spend $110,000.oo in 30yrs plus the vechile cost $30,000.oo 30mpg.
a hybrid would get cost $50,000 in gas over 30yr plus car cost $25,000 45mpg
a tesla would cost around $30,000 on electricity in 30yr plus the 100k $3per charge
compared to the one time in 30 yr cost of $7,200 in nuclear fuel
casium could be used as anlternative its 4x cheaper and 6x as much is produced in fallout and has a more convient halflife of 18.1 yrs but in reality the nuclear fuel isnt the cost issue but the other components and car safe enough for the hysterical masses
so if you want a solution tell someone

I'm afraid I don't have the expertise to vote one way or the other. I build 1200 MW nuclear power plants, not cars.

really

That's just too danged expensive.

rtg = radioisotope thermoelectric generator.

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well right now it could compete with tesla but in a decade batteries will probably be less expensive

In my opinion it would be madness to turn the general public loose with RTGs. Keep the nuclear power in a large, secure installation and use it to refine hydrogen for powering motor vehicles.

this is a top cut away of the cell but without struts

this is of the flange without the rods attached top views srry for the size

also someone in the last post said "diamond burns like charcoal in an oxygen environment" hey so does steel but we arent afraid to build buildings with it think b4utype also were will u an all oxy enviroment

I understand there is already a shortage of Sr90 and/or other suitable issotopes, so the price will surely be higher if we start building lots of these cars. I also suspect the amount of Sr90 you suggest produces 20 kw or less, so you also need a super capacitor or a Tesla type battery to climb steep hills at 70 MPH or accellerate to 60 MPH in less than ten seconds. On the plus side your nuclear car can supply all or most of your homes energy needs when it is parked in your garage.
Unprocessed high level nuclear waste might substitue for Sr90 at very low cost, but the radiation hazard is higher, even if the containment does not fail. Neil

The fire hazard of steel, plastic and wood in tall buildings is grandfathered in. Hopefully our construction industry is replacing some of the steel, plastic and wood with ceramics = metal oxides which can be as strong as steel, will not burn and soften at higher temperatures than steel. Unfortunately the best ceramics are not yet mass produced, but likely can make safer containmement for nuclear fuel than diamond. Neil

Hi geonuc: Are 1200 megawatt three phase alternators for 60 hertz available, or do you need multiple alternators to get 1200 megawatts output? Do you build a containment building for the alternators, in case centrifugle force tears the alternator apart? Is the rotating part of the biggest alternators over 12 feet in diameter? Neil

first there isnt realy a shortage its that no one was allowed to collect the fallout due to there being to much but recent tech has developed a way to remove 98% of the strontium but the usa says ur not allowed to collect it . who said it would only collect 20kilowatts my info said it just what id need in tmp when it comes to helium also i was planning 300 hp 6000 rpm @ 500 psi making 210kilowatts 2500 amps 192 volts
lastly i was trying to explane that nerely anything burns with enough oxygen not air oxygen
steel @550 f diamond 1400 F
most ceremacis arent conductors but insulators of heat
neil care to exchange sources on the 20kilowatts

I understood present RTGs produce ten KW, but perhaps the hot helium powered turbine is ten times more efficient. At least one company claims they are about to market a much more efficient way to convert low grade heat to electricity. Sorry I remember some details, but not the source, which likely is popular and thus not very reliable.
300 HP should power several homes. Disposal of surplus energy may be a big problem, when the vehicle is stuck in a traffic jam on a very hot day or in a typical parking lot. Perhaps you should think one unit = 150 horsepower?
Perhaps the thermal insulating properties of ceramics are an advantage for the containment. A hot outside on the containment means helium that did not get heated. Is diamond a better thermal conductor than typical ceramics? For building construction and fire control in buildings, none flamable insulation is an advantage, mostly. Neil

best conductor period next carbon nanotubes and silver the rods cases have to be conductors suggest maybe a third failsafe other than titanium seeling door maybe different tank material
150 hp is 11kilowatts thats a slow car but two houses
also its not a convientional motor im using try looking up green steam it runs on 90%+ efficency compared to regular engines 47% and turbines 25%-45%double efficency there you need low input for high power helium is 3x as efficient compared to water
also when u looked it up that had to have been a basic rtg this thing im thinkin of falls into the category non fission reactor maybe
this thing has 10% energy loss wich is recovered by the turbines and solar panels wich bring back every to the tanks after being relased to the engine bringing efficiency at untrue 100% due to external forces nuclear solar and wind
i actually think maybe i should try electric heaters they use only 10000watts to get 200celcius to see if efficency of the curcuit is accurate
also in an air enviroment diamond is more likely to melt than burn so is steel
and maybe three modes idle drive and generate idle would probaly just close off the the engine from the helium tank in hot helim just sitting in the tank
generate wont use solar and wind so to keep the circuit goning it would have to use it own energy generate would run on lower hp like 200hp and 100kilowatt output actual energy loss would be more obvious because only external power is the nuclear also engine should run much quieter

also i forgot that if u only have 20,000 per cell it would last only a decade ( due to loss) but still if it powers ur car and house i think 7200 is worth it becaues ud save that much on just ur electric bill in three years
plus gas 1200 in a year if you drive on one gallon a day and no driving on weekends
you would save 27,000 in that decade so with a car like this and a few solar panels on the back of ur garage every one could be off the fossil fuel fired grid

It appears that aceholmes is correct. The number is almost 5 times higher for the thermal conductivity of (one form) of carbon compared to silver. Short peices of CNT are likely poor thermal conductors over longer lengths.
Does anyone think a reactor will lower the half life of Sr90 from 51 years to ten years? Perhaps, I missunderstood?
Tests have shown CNT = carbon nano tubes retain most of their strength to more than 3000 degrees c, so I think everything else will boil before diamond melts. Carbon melts at 3550 degrees c, but graphite sublines at 3367 degrees c. Neil

the halflife is is still the same it just the cell would be using the bare minimum amount of curries and as it ages its radioactivity entrophies making it produce less heat
so it would only produce enough heat to reach critical point for a decade after twenty years it would only get 60% of original activity 15 yrs would be the max on 20000 curies and it would be more expensive to have larger cells to compensate the loss still $720 a year for fuel just in a car is worth it
neil do u know the density of carbon nano tubes

But you only compared the fuel costs for 30 years. But a nuclear powered car would last longer then that.

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After you take away everything that is impossible, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. ~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle/Sherlock Holmes

after the sr halflife of sr90 30 yrs is out lived it makes y90 and after it outlives it halflive 56hrs it makes zircunium90 which is stable so it becomes pretty much just a rod

Of course the powers-that-be would let civilians strolling around in nuclear cars...

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"Shut up and calculate" R. Feynman

what