Sounds like an interesting idea and I think there are things like this being done but, couldn't we accomplish the same thing on a smaller scale without all the destruction? What about fusion welding once we get that more locked in? I know it's still a WIP but if we're getting to "millions of degrees", it could speed up the process if we're able to localize the fusion. Also, what about cold fusion? The problem on any of these is the cost -- it may be quicker/better but if the cost is way too high, it's not worth it. Maybe in the future it'll be cheaper/easier.
replyExplosion welding is a real thing that’s a tiny bit like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosion_welding
replyWhat, you mean, like American Machine and Foundry building nuclear reactors?
replyhttps://www.ans.org/news/article-1858/elk-river-rural-americ...
No, I mean using atomic bombs to manufacture these alloys at scale. In the 50s a-bombs were proposed for all sorts of workaday uses. Imagine using a small a-bomb for mining just as we use ANFO today.
replyI am sure that somebody will take up the task of reproducing these alloys using intense heat from a non-atomic source. New alloys can be quite lucrative but developing them requires just as much experimentation as making new drugs. I'd imagine that getting to an alloy of 7 metals through progressive experimentation would take awhile. Now we know it's possible and have a possible production path. That is enough to spur some experiments down that road.
Both the US and the Soviet Union actually experimented with "nuclear fracking" in oil/gas fields. The Soviet Union also used atomic bombs to put out fires in gas fields as late as 1981.
replydeleted
reply>Imagine using a small a-bomb for mining just as we use ANFO today.
replyNuclear cement kiln
Nuclear pile jetter
Nuclear tunnel boring machine.
Nuclear Toothpaste
replyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doramad_Radioactive_Toothpaste
I bet a nuclear foundry can be bundled with atomic mining ala Project Plowshare. Guess we are lucky we didn't get the future the atomic age promised.
replyUsing the Project Orion spacecraft to get there, of course.
replyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propu...