Reply To: Energy Output – MW & GW

[AaronB]

Axil wrote:
To leave planet Earth an escape velocity of 11.2 km/s is required, that escape velocity for Earth (to escape its “gravity well”) is about 25,000 mph (or 36, 700 ft per second).

It is impossible to achieve that velocity passing through the lower levels of the earth’s atmosphere because of the fictional heat generated by passage through that dense layer of air beginning at 15,000 feet elevation that your plan would entail. That fictional heating would vaporize all known materials.

The consequence is that the waste package would vaporize and radioactive vapor would contaminant Colombia and the other surrounding nations. I am sorry to have disabused you of your fantasy.

I anticipated a bit of material would be lost from the nose cone. The whole capsule would be made of an encased uranium rod and a ceramic nose cone that would be very pointy and long, allowing several inches to burn away as it exited the atmosphere. Since uranium is so dense and heavy, the rod wouldn’t have to be very big to weigh 500 lbs. The whole thing would be probably 25 ft. long and 1 ft. in diameter, and a good portion of the length would be the nose cone. Also, there would be a lot of testing with non-hazardous materials before uranium was used. I’m not saying that this would be completely easy to do, but engineers are smart. If given the challenge and resources, they could come up with a way to make it work. It could also open up a whole new level of access to space.