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Legitimate_Plum674 t1_j5e75oy wrote

Reply to comment by wasp463 in Wind Energy Could Power Human Colonies On Mars, Finds Study by upyoars

Fall out is not the problem with nuclear energy. Modern nuclear power plants don't work like the one in Chernobyl, so there's no need to worry about that.

But you do need uranium for the reactor. You can't ship enough uranium from earth to make it worth it. You'd have to find uranium on Mars, and then you need to dig it up. Which means you need to start a mining operation. There's just not enough resources to make it viable.

Nuclear power is not free energy, it's incredibly expensive, and a nuclear power plant on mars would be even more expensive. It's just not worth it. Oh, and you need water to cool the reactor. Not much water on Mars, eh?

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Carbidereaper t1_j5fyz88 wrote

It would be much easier to just ship raw plutonium than uranium and use it to just make MOX ( mixed oxide fuel ) a single decommissioned nuclear weapons core contains 46 pounds of plutonium. Enough to run a 6 megawatt reactor for nearly a century

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Legitimate_Plum674 t1_j5gd6nj wrote

I know nothing about that. But it sounds sci-fi enough for me to like the idea.

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wasp463 t1_j5eadjk wrote

lots of wind though right? its not like mars is famous for its low atmosphere or anything, I'm not saying its easy I'm saying its easier

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