this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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Science Memes

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Nuclear power? That's just steam power with extra steps! (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Our entire society* has been based on burning things. Then we progressed to... burning atoms.

(*Exceptions I can think of is solar, wind, hydro.)

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Then we're leaching off the sun burning atoms.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Ohhhhh!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

ACKSHUALLY you're not burning atoms in a nuclear reaction. You're creating a chain reaction of neutrons colliding with Uranium isotopes. No combustion.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Solar farms did start out as using the sun to boil water. Basically mirrors redirecting light to a central point to super-heat a pipe flowing with water.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Theres actually been a major increase in solar thermal power stations in the last few years

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Oh so that's what that big central tower in New Vegas was. I never put two and two together.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Wind and hydro still have to spin a turbine. Solar is the one true stand out advancement in electricity production since we started using electricity.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They spin it directly though, not via steam.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Technically, as long as there's more than zero percent humidity I guess wind turbines are still powered by steam. And hydro is essentially steam, too, just the cooler version.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

To be fair, the atoms were going to burn anyhow. We just clumped them together to make better use of them.