Guest: Dr. James Dewar; Topics: Nuclear power, propulsion and for space. Jim's ideas and suggestions per his attached paper, "The Nuclear Rocket."
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We welcomed back to the program Dr. Jim Dewar to discuss his updated nuclear rocket proposal per his latest version of his paper, "The Nuclear Rocket." This paper has been uploaded to our blog so please read it. In fact, I suggest you read it before listening to this discussion. Our guest jumped around quite a bit regarding topics, as did the emails from listeners and the phone calls. As with previous programs, once again I am suggesting you use the Tags/Key Words as a short summary of the topics discussed on the show in the basic order presented in the tags. As for a program theme, Jim kept repeating that his plans needed to be implemented by the private sector for profit, not NASA or the public sector. He spoke over and over again about entrepreneurism and youth leading the way.
A majority of Jim's discussion points focused on nuclear engine performance specs, size given the Chinese unit online now in China, temperatures and power produced. He suggested multiple uses here on Earth, in space, on the Moon, Mars, and he put forth his ideas for the very high parts of the upper atmosphere. Many listeners asked him about problems and choke points. Jim most always talked about fear but then he most always said profit would trump fear which was another way of his saying the entrepreneurial private sector had to do this. Jim also talked about his advancing age and said he was not the one to "run with these ideas." These comments brought us back to the need for younger folks and the cry for successful entrepreneurism.
Among the questions, Jim was asked about thorium. He threw cold water on it but listen to his reasoning. Post your thoughts on his comments on our blog. Several listener questions dealt with the fear vs. profit commentary offered up by the guest. In addition, given Jim spent so much time on the size and power specs of the nuclear propulsion units, many listeners asked about that and ramping up the size along with wanting to know more about potential applications.
Once again, I urge you to read Jim's paper, then listen to the discussion. Dr. Dewar is available by email for further discussion if you want to reach out to him. Please do so through me or the blog. I will be making sure Jim does see all the blog posts.
Please post your comments/questions on our blog for this show. You can reach Dr. Dewar through me.
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