Reply To: Focus fusion and transportation

[JimmyT]

Aeronaut wrote:

With regard to the scalability question:
It would probably be farsighted to try to fit one of these power units into a containerized cargo unit right at the beginning of the design phase. They might need outriggers to contain shielding water (mainly for neutrons.) I’ve seen many references in the forums to these units being “about the size of semi trailers”. Well, maybe we should endevor to make them exactly the size of those modular trailers. They would sure be easy to transport that way.

That standardized form factor would be a huge plus for shipping FF around the world. But a meter of water in all directions is a lot of mass, volume, and steel that isn’t absolutely required, as thinner, lighter shielding materials might give us a torpedo-like form factor.

This in turn could possibly fit 4 or more reactors into the container, along with the control room.
There is no intention of shipping the reactor with the water! :bug: 😆

It is unnecessary until the unit is “switched on”, in any case. Nothing in the FF generator is inherently radioactive. It would only be necessary for transport situations if it was being used as the power source.

Brian, you’re absolutely right- as long as you restrict the choice of primary shielding material to water. I don’t. Assuming a 1 foot FF core diameter, a meter of water shielding in all directions requires a diameter of just under 8 feet, which does not leave much clearance in a semi trailer. It may very likely be overweight, too, except for specially licensed oilfield trailers that can carry 40 tons. Sooooo, once you ship it halfway across the Sahara, how do you plan to fill it? :bug: 😆

But you just keep thinking inside the box, my friend, and my Delta-Vee conscious designs will eat your lunch by every metric.

Yeah Brian,

The very idea that you could come up with lots of water in a desert envroment, much less than you would need to… say put out an oil well fire. Oh, wait a minute. We did that right?