What would happen if you took a nuclear reactor into a space, and it started going into a meltdown? Would it still cause an EMP? If so, how close would the reactor have to be for it cause damage to satellites and the ISS, and how far would it have to be to prevent damage to them?
Robert J
Favorite Answer
A meltdown is not an explosion and would not cause any EMP effect. You would end up with a large glob of molten or semi-molten material that was extremely radioactive.
The EMP effect from an atomic bomb is created by the interaction of a massively strong burst of gamma radiation with air molecules.
In an explosion, a significant part of the mass of the bomb core is converted to radiation in a tiny fraction of a second, vs. normal reactor type decay taking decades and converting far less matter to energy.
A meltdown does not produce that gamma spike and there is no air in space to convert that to a EM pulse.
Anonymous
there is no "down" in space
> Would it still cause an EMP?
nope
?
What reactor does is that it heats water and tuns into steam. This steam rotates the turbine and you get the electricity. In the space you need water source an the turbine assembly, Think a method to send water and get the electricity. You need a moderator and the other assembly. If they are absent it may become a bomb .