Re: nuke navy - HMS Tireless - probes

[Ted de Castro <tdc@XRAYTED.COM>]

The two are not related at all.



Subs have reactors where materials are brought together to react with

eachother at a rate or in a way that they would not react separately.



The thermo electric generators on the space craft are just decaying away

naturally as they would anywhere.  The heat that is generated by this

decay is used in part to generate electricity with thermopiles (many

thermocouples connected together - not unlike the pilot sensor in your

gas furnace or hot water heater). The heat is also used in part to keep

the instruments on board warm enough to keep operating.  That portion of

the decay heat which is not used radiates off into space as infrared

radiation.



The thermo electric generators use quantities of Pu238 that are small

compared to the inventory of a sub reactor - and they only produce a

couple hundred watts of HEAT energy - a few tens of watts of electrical

energy - as opposed to the megawatts a sub's reactor produces.



The sub fuel is also of a different composition - thus your "operative

word" CONCENTRATION (bet you thought I forgot!!)  can have no meaning in

this context.



Thanks for asking the question.



M Nivas wrote:

> 

> This thread brings up an interesting question to me.

> 

> The thermocoupler reactors in the voyager and pioneer

> exploration of space have easily lasted 20 years.  Is

> there a similar concentration in nuclear submarines -

> as there is in these space probes?

> 

> Please note the operative word is "concentration".

> 

> Thanks to everyone for allowing me to ask this - Tom

> 

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