I see a wire in one corner. Since I'm not sure it would be such a good idea to actually have pellets of high-enriched nuclear fuel in the wild, I will assume that either this is where the energy comes in, or it's where generated electricity comes out, and the globular element has a solid fuel pellet inside. In this case, the "atomic" nature of this would be, it's got the same closed-circuit water system, and you could easily substitute a reactor core for the globular thing, and then it would be truly nyucular.
Actually, it's an open-circuit steam engine where the globe contains a boiler that is heated by electricity. The idea is to show how a nuclear plant works without the pesky detail of nuclear fuel.
Mind you, a self-sustaining fission reactor in a container the size of a cricket ball would have had Fermi swooning.
Yes, it does, but remember that this is a model. In real life, the tower would have water cascades at the bottom to cool and re-condense the steam (the "steam" you see from such towers is actually water vapour). In this set up, the steam escapes down by the piston.
Ah, that (exhaust steam) was just what I was missing. I thought the cooling tower actually had a condenser in it, making this, you know, a model of a nuclear reactor rather than a regular steam engine that's shaped like one. Less impressive this way.
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I see a wire in one corner. Since I'm not sure it would be such a good idea to actually have pellets of high-enriched nuclear fuel in the wild, I will assume that either this is where the energy comes in, or it's where generated electricity comes out, and the globular element has a solid fuel pellet inside. In this case, the "atomic" nature of this would be, it's got the same closed-circuit water system, and you could easily substitute a reactor core for the globular thing, and then it would be truly nyucular.
Am I correct?
Maybe there is a Ford Nucleon in my future after all.
Actually, it's an open-circuit steam engine where the globe contains a boiler that is heated by electricity. The idea is to show how a nuclear plant works without the pesky detail of nuclear fuel.
Mind you, a self-sustaining fission reactor in a container the size of a cricket ball would have had Fermi swooning.
I see a cooling tower, and a lack of billowing steam. Does closed/open-circuit in this context mean something other than I evidently think it to mean?
Yes, it does, but remember that this is a model. In real life, the tower would have water cascades at the bottom to cool and re-condense the steam (the "steam" you see from such towers is actually water vapour). In this set up, the steam escapes down by the piston.
Ah, that (exhaust steam) was just what I was missing. I thought the cooling tower actually had a condenser in it, making this, you know, a model of a nuclear reactor rather than a regular steam engine that's shaped like one. Less impressive this way.
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