The Enron Egg is a compact nuclear reactor that uses Uranium-Zirconium Hydride (U-ZrH) fuel rods to generate heat through nuclear fission. This heat is transferred via a 3D-printed Inconel heat exchanger, powering a turbine to generate electricity. A closed-loop cooling system ensures safe operation without environmental contamination.
Amazing. And indeed, surely a multi-million dollar commission (in ‘90s dollars!) - the logo is from the same guy who did the logos for IBM and NeXT (among many others).
Before it has reached criticality for the first time, its contents are less toxic than hydrazine.
After criticality, the contents are more toxic than hydrazine. Nuclear reactors are safe because so much engineering and procedural effort goes into keeping the fuel and its fission products contained. The fission products include extremely toxic materials. Strontium-90, one of the more common medium-lifetime fission products, has an acute gram-for-gram lethality comparable to the nerve gas sarin. The fast-decaying fission products like strontium-89 are even worse, though by their very nature they don't persist for long in discarded fuel.
I got that sense too, but after watching the video, I felt like it was more of an indictment of American tech culture (especially with the recent block chain, crypto, and now AI hype). As I watched the video I felt increasingly scared of the thought of home nuclear reactors made a company solely motivated by increasing profits YoY. Honestly it was more scary than funny.
Only? That's disappointing. This is the problem with companies these days using purportedly "Open Source" licenses which are anything but. It's misrepresentative at best and switch-and-bait at worst. :-/
I’d go with closed cycle Stirling engines. Even better efficiency than open water boiling.
The general rtg use cases care less about efficiency than long term reliability though so that’s why they use thermocouples. But it would be reasonably trivial to use a Stirling engine instead (unless you’re going to extreme environments where mechanical parts no longer work well)
I'm not sure it is: from that Wiki page, it sounds like RTGs can't quickly ramp up/down power generation or turn off, which that Westinghouse page says can be done.
They make heat constantly. You’re free to convert that heat to electricity or not at your leisure though. It’s no different to choosing not to draw power from a solar panel in the sun. Not a problem.
“This product is gonna revolutionize three critical industries. The power industry, the independence industry, and the freedom industry. This product is gonna revolutionize all three,” Enron CEO Connor Gaydos claimed in a video presentation announcing the egg.
Gaydos is also the co-founder of the satirical “Birds Aren't Real” movement, which asserts that all real birds existing in the U.S. had been forcibly made extinct and were replaced by the government with surveillance drones that look like birds.
I really thought it’s real. I should really ask more questions. It will be cool product one day. Power companies will never let something like this come out.
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[ 5.6 ms ] story [ 123 ms ] threadhttps://www.ibtimes.com/enrons-satirical-comeback-meet-enron...
The Enron logo has a couple of similarities to the Next computers logo.
https://www.paulrand.design/work/Enron.html
Would this really be more toxic than common refrigerants? Or e.g. hydrazine?
After criticality, the contents are more toxic than hydrazine. Nuclear reactors are safe because so much engineering and procedural effort goes into keeping the fuel and its fission products contained. The fission products include extremely toxic materials. Strontium-90, one of the more common medium-lifetime fission products, has an acute gram-for-gram lethality comparable to the nerve gas sarin. The fast-decaying fission products like strontium-89 are even worse, though by their very nature they don't persist for long in discarded fuel.
https://books.google.se/books/about/Nuclear_Power_and_Energy...
it doesn't seem very sophisticated but I'm not sure what else you'd call it.
https://cryptoslate.com/enron-is-back-now-focused-on-decentr...
But a lot other s*itcoins beat them to it. And is flooding the crypto market with "fake" Enron coins.
[1] https://enron.com/pages/terms-of-use
[1] https://enron.com/collections/shop
<marquee>The World's Leading Company</marquee>
https://westinghousenuclear.com/energy-systems/evinci-micror...
Other names to google: NuScale VOYGR™ Micro (77MW scalable), Oklo Aurora (1.5MW), Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) (5MW thermal, 1.5MW electric), Rolls-Royce SMR (470 MW), HolosGen HolosQuad (3-13 MW), X-energy Xe-100 (80 MW)
Legality aside, could one design a desktop RTG with a practical power output? Say with an open-cycle boiling-water design, to keep things simple.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...
The general rtg use cases care less about efficiency than long term reliability though so that’s why they use thermocouples. But it would be reasonably trivial to use a Stirling engine instead (unless you’re going to extreme environments where mechanical parts no longer work well)
2) Use the heat given off to generate more power
“This product is gonna revolutionize three critical industries. The power industry, the independence industry, and the freedom industry. This product is gonna revolutionize all three,” Enron CEO Connor Gaydos claimed in a video presentation announcing the egg.
Gaydos is also the co-founder of the satirical “Birds Aren't Real” movement, which asserts that all real birds existing in the U.S. had been forcibly made extinct and were replaced by the government with surveillance drones that look like birds.
Without humor the only option is to end up in controversial squabbles.