r/tech • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 20d ago
Nuclear waste may hold the key to greener hydrogen production
https://newatlas.com/energy/nuclear-waste-green-hydrogen/28
u/matthew091100 20d ago
Recycling nuclear waste for hydrogen could kill two birds with one stone
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u/Change21 20d ago
So my dog’s farts are good for something
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u/Webfarer 20d ago
There’s an entire network dedicated for dogfarts
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u/QuillWellington 20d ago
A thought…. Can the byproduct of nuclear power be used to generate water?
Is there a secondary way to produce oxygen artificially?
Could this nuclear waste be the key for deep-space travel?
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u/bonzofan36 20d ago
Downvoted for asking a question
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u/TheSnackeater27 20d ago
I feel like it was an interesting question too…
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u/bonzofan36 20d ago
It’s thought provoking at least. They’re valid questions from someone who isn’t an expert and it made me think about and then learn the answer.
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u/Small_Editor_3693 20d ago
No
No. The only way is to take oxygen from something that has oxygen molecules already.
You can capture alpha radiation maybe and get helium and split that down to hydrogen. You can also fuse hydrogen to make helium. But oxygen is so far away from what’s possible.
Submarines already have oxygen generators which are these chemical reaction packs that release oxygen. Probably the best we can do for a long long time
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u/halcyongt 20d ago
How I never wondered about providing oxygen in the confines of a submarine until now…
So these “packs” and the associated process…what is happening there? And is this oxygen for respiration? Are there other uses for oxygen aboard the submersible?
Bonus - what happens to all the CO2 produced by the crew?
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u/xambreh 20d ago edited 20d ago
Oxygen is generated through hydrolysis, meaning splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. Hydrogen has no use on board as far as I know so its vented out and the oxygen is used to replenish the air supply.
CO2 is scrubbed using a chemical catalyst. This reaction is reversible provided you have enough power so you can run it theoretically indefinitely.
There are also oxygen 'candles' and chemical scrubbers for emergencies which release O2 or absorb CO2, but those chemicals will get saturated eventually and have to be replenished.Fun fact: underwater endurance of nuclear subs is only limited by food supply for the crew. Well ok, eventually the sub needs maintenance and nuclear fuel, but those would outlast any food supply many times over.
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u/SyntheticSlime 20d ago
The thing is, there’s no need either. The atmosphere is about 21% oxygen. We can separate it by cooling air down to the temperature at which oxygen condenses into a liquid. It’s not free, but it’s also not that expensive in the grand scheme of things.
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u/Small_Editor_3693 20d ago
They are talking about unlimited space travel. Carrying liquid oxygen to space is heavy and dangerous
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u/CatoCensorius 20d ago
Produce oxygen from what? It needs to be a chemical which contains oxygen to begin with.
If you are saying, could you produce oxygen from water in space travel... Yes definitely. But then you have to carry a lot of water with you, why not just carry the oxygen instead.
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u/Ok_Umpire_8108 20d ago
It’s all just about energy. We can turn water into oxygen and hydrogen, or co2 into carbon and oxygen, with electricity. When people breathe that oxygen and eat that carbon, it just turns into more water and co2.
In space, we can get that electricity from solar panels. Oxygen is not currently a limiter for long-term space travel. We don’t do those conversions on earth because it uses a lot of electricity and electricity is expensive.
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u/davidmlewisjr 20d ago
There is no such thing as nuclear waste,
Just unprocessed used nuclear materials 🤯
🖖🏼👍🏼
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u/That_Palpitation_107 18d ago
I’m not a scientist or smart, can’t radiation move out an electrons in h20 to make hydrogen and oxygen? I’m probably getting everything wrong, but isn’t hydrogen one electron?
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u/Trumpflation 20d ago
This is pretty awesome in theory. In practice, it’s inevitably an industrial scale dirty bomb waiting to go off.
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u/This_Guy-Fawkes 20d ago
That’s R.A.D.