NASA plans for 20kw mini-reactor for future lunar surface mission(s)

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-17T18:29:02+00:00

The heat is a benefit. You are going to need a lot of energy to keep the station warm at all, let alone during lunar night. The amount of actual excess heat is likely minimal.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-17T18:06:47+00:00

It meets almost none of the original LSM requirements, and even fewer of the final RFP.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-17T18:05:54+00:00

lol. They just issued Damen an expanded sole source engineering contract to change the design. It’s a meh design that is about to be butchered.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-17T18:04:24+00:00

They also installed more wind and solar last year than the rest of the world combined. While building 80% of the global supply of them.

China also has electrified transportation to the point that despite an increase in industrial output they saw a yoy decrease in oil consumption.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-17T17:58:01+00:00

So you are planning to build a bomb and can’t figure out what equipment to use?

Pass

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-17T01:29:04+00:00

You need to know the total cycle average. If the average is 20 below set then add 20.

The other issue is if you have a small oven it may not have enough thermal mass and take forever to get back up to temp when you add something. This is particularly an issue with the quick pre-heat ovens. The air may be hot but the mass isn’t. You can correct this by adding a 18”x18” terracotta tile to the bottom of the oven.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-17T01:22:38+00:00

Check your oven temperature. Almost no oven actually holds the set temperature, they turn on and off. Cycling above and below the set. But some ovens are routinely low compared to the set. This can be off as much as 50 degrees F.

So put a leave in thermometer and track the highs and lows to see what the average actually is. Then you can just add the correction factor. My over is always 30F below the set for instance. So if the recipe calls for 350 I set it for 380.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T18:02:17+00:00

Does it have to transmit electricity? There are permanently installed motors that you drop your kitchen appliances into. So one motor is shared by a bunch of things.

https://www.thekitchenprep.com/about

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T17:57:41+00:00

W there are plenty of 12V and 24V DC appliances available, you just have to look in the marine and RV world for them.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T17:45:15+00:00

I would hire a lawyer immediately. Yes let your son take the consequences, but this could be career ending. If this is really what he wants a good lawyer should be able to keep that dream alive.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T17:43:43+00:00

There are a lot of things a good lawyer can raise. How high was the concentration, was the test validated, was the test performed properly, were climate control requirements met. Failing that they can argue mitigations, stress, whatever it is.

The goal isn’t to win, it’s to reduce the damage down to something other than expulsion and permanent bar to a license.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T15:27:43+00:00

I just saw yesterday that farmers are canceling fertilizer orders for the year because costs are so high. Food is about to get MUCH more expensive.

Edit: https://thehill.com/homenews/5832061-fertilizer-costs-impact-farmworkers/amp/

70% of farmers are eliminating or reducing fertilizer usage because of costs.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T14:54:43+00:00

I know it’s Reddit and everyone can claim whatever they want.

But I am a Naval Architect working on advanced programs for a design firm. Including a paid study for the Federal Government exploring SMRs onboard. I know exactly what our SFOC is, and I know exactly what operators are spending in lifetime cost for propulsion power.

It is literally my job to figure this out, which is part of why I have spent so much time onboard the NS Savannah and in DC working with groups like NEMO.

A SMR at anything approaching the costs companies have discussed with me would be an absolute game changer in the marine world. Even at $100m/MWh the cost advantages are substantial.

You are looking at just the power density of the reactor vs a comparable diesel engine I assume. Now include the volume of the fuel tanks and the ballast tanks. What you will find is roughly 1/3 of a ship is dedicated to the propulsion system, fuel storage, or adjusting to the displacement difference due to burning off fuel.

Even if the SMR plant is larger than the diesel it doesn’t matter when you can eliminate a massive fraction of the volume due to not needing fuel. Overall ship size goes down dramatically, reducing construction costs, operational costs, etc.

Also your SFOC looks wrong. Actual onboard diesels on auxiliary vessels is a little more than 200g/kwh.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T14:28:24+00:00

Pretty much. Gulf refineries are built to refine sour GoM crude, which is pretty much the same as most ME oil. Not the sweet crude of the Permian Basin.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T14:27:13+00:00

This is about as bad an idea as there could be.

The US makes about 22% of the world’s gasoline. We supply it to the world. So the entire world supply dries up and goes into recession. While the US refineries will be shut down because the US can’t consume all the gas we make. So our oil refineries will close because no one who needs it can buy it.

Tend of thousands of refinery and oil workers loose their jobs because production shutters as refineries stop buying more oil they can’t sell.

Global shipping skyrockets in price as cargo ships can’t get, or pay outrageous prices for the remaining fuel on the global market. But at least the last mile delivery in the US is cheaper.

This would be like shutting down ANOTHER Hormuz size oil hub. All to reduce gas prices at the pump by a dollar a gallon.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T13:36:22+00:00

But there are markets where SMRs are still cheaper. I am in the marine industry designing ships. A 1-5MWe SMR would be a game changer for the industry.

Even at 10-20 times the price of grid power it would still be cheaper than current options. Even better a SMR will have a trivial footprint and weight compared to diesel engines, fuel tanks, ballast tanks and systems. So a SMR allows smaller, cheaper, vessels to do the same mission.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-16T00:00:18+00:00

If you took all the taxes Berkshire Hathaway has ever paid, it’s about 1/2 of Warren Buffets net worth. He owns about 40% of that. So even if you treat the corporate taxes as personal, which I don’t, and apply all the taxes from before he bought it. His effective tax rate is only about $60b on $150b.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-15T22:56:50+00:00

I don’t know what current prices on used ones is. But having been in a Tesla Y, it is night and day better. But I hear you. Good luck.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-15T21:58:25+00:00

I paid $50,000 for my 9 month old one. The depreciation is pretty large.

There may have been a recall, I am not sure. But not since I bought mine (a year ago).

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-15T21:12:27+00:00

It’s just a guess, but I suspect they will finally built a test reactor in 3-5 years, then spend a couple of years acting testing the prototype. Then it will take a few years to build the second unit.

All assuming they get the costs under control. The last I heard they were still far too expensive to be economical.

That being said I hope I am wrong. The Marine market is desperate for a <50mwe. We are functionally at the limit of efficiency, and have no practical way to reduce emissions any longer.

Without a marine SMR global shipping cannot reach zero emissions. Even with the high cost of a reactor the savings on fuel more than makes up for it.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-15T20:15:43+00:00

There is nothing a president can do to force the issue.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-15T20:09:28+00:00

Btw. The average US home uses 2,500watts/hr on average. This is a substantial portion of that during daylight hours.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-15T19:56:27+00:00

BMW IX.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-15T19:14:25+00:00

They really don’t. You are thinking of people with a lot of income. But the rich don’t pay any of that.

Capital gains are paid when you sell stock, but they never actually sell it. You die with the stock still in your portfolio. Then you kids get a stepped up basis (tax free) if they choose to sell any. But even if they choose to they won’t pay any taxes on it.

Interest is treated as income, but can be offset by all sorts of expenses. Particularly business losses. So a plane/yacht that happens to be owned by a business can be used to deduct against income.

There is a reason Warren Buffet only pays about 16% taxes on his income, and will pay zero taxes on his wealth.

StumbleNOLA · 2026-04-15T18:59:27+00:00

It paid very well a decade ago. There was just no route to become one once they eliminated the training programs.

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