Space Based Nuclear Reactor

I was thinking about an active nuclear reactor in space. I came up with a plan for its operation (pic). Since buoyancy isn't applicable outside of acceleration I came up with a hotter burning version of a radiothermic generator. Basically, the 18cm uranium block in the center is surrounded by a vacuum. This means that pressure cannot cause a failure in the exterior. The uranium has holes in its corners to fit carbon shafts and neutron poison injectors. There is a neutron gun and a thermocouple to create the reaction and collect the energy. It is relatively low power compared to an actual reactor however it should provide more power than a RTG.

What about heat dissipation?

Doesn't most RTGs look like they are 90% radiator anyways?

The reactor was designed to operate more efficiently when outside of acceleration. It would operate at meltdown. The Neutron poisons kill the reaction before an acceleration causing it to cool with the thermocouple down to a solid.

If you did this because you think space is colder than earth then kys

fusion > fission

I know that space can get hot but in this situation there is no gas to absorb heat from the uranium. also the gas cannot expand and create high pressures in the chamber.

We dont have fusion yet, fission and solar are the next best things.

>We dont have fusion yet
we do
there is no further research required on the process itself
we don't have net energy producing fusion yet, because we still didn't figure out how to shield the plasma without dumping tens of megawatts to contain it

>no gas to absorb heat from the uranium
so you fuel melts and destroys your reactor system. brilliant design.
if you want radiative cooling to work you better come up with a design with more surface area than a cube, which means a shitton more neutron reflection, because your geometric buckling is going to fuck you

When I said we dont have fusion, I mean practical fusion. Something that doesnt require a massive power infrastructure or high cost materials to function.

we also don't have practical non-terestrial fission-based power stations

Shouldn't it be easier to to contain plasma in 0G?

You could always make a spinning orion reactor, no cooling needed since you would be mechanically and magnetically storing in the mid space. All you need is a push block on a string attatched to a centerfugue.

not that guy but why would it be? essentially isotropic expansion

This is really more of a RTG with a faster burn time producing more power than a passive RTG.

that's all well and good but this isn't some 5 MeV alpha emitting Pu, you're pushing 200 MeV per fission and with 18 Kg and a neutron source with no active cooling system

well if you kill the reaction and convert the heat with the thermocouple doesnt that fit the requirements of a cooling system?

>There is a neutron gun and a thermocouple to create the reaction and collect the energy.
Just what kind of thermocouple is that? Or are you thinking of an uranium fuelled radio isotope generator which has already been used in space for decades?

>there is no further research required on the process itself
Wow.

Why??

not when you melt the thermocouple, after irradiating the fuck out of it with neutrons

>Why??
You wouldn't need to make something physically levitate against' earth's gravity, just push it away from the containment walls.
I mean that has to be the biggest energy guzzler in the entire containment system.
Am I wrong?

I am thinking of that yes but one with a faster burn time and higher voltage. The design being for farther and longer distance trips which cant rely on solar energy but must generate similar voltages.

No the carbon shafts are there to hold it in place after killing the reaction

this is beyond non sequitur

>You wouldn't need to make something physically levitate against' earth's gravity, just push it away from the containment walls.
>I mean that has to be the biggest energy guzzler in the entire containment system.
what? are you still talking about a magnetic confinement fusion device?
there's really very little mass in terms of the fuel, the plasma pressure is much greater than any type of gravitational interaction

Wrong answer. should have said spacecraft.