The US uses nuclear power aircraft carriers. Is this efficient? What are the drawbacks? Could the same systems theoretically be used in cars?
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The energy density of nuclear fuel is so ridiculously huge. There are nuclear powered ice breakers that use so much energy that they literally cannot run on diesel because there isn’t enough room for the fuel! (possibly this is slight exaggeration).
I don’t know if efficiency is the right word, it could be diesel engines are more efficient that nuclear, but the energy in nukes is so much higher it wouldn’t matter. The major downside is size and complexity of the power plant. Nuclear power remember is just heat. So you have to boil water first then use that to push the ship using electrical motors or some other way of converting steam energy to rotating the screws of the ship. An internal combustion engine can turn the screws directly.
You could use them in cars yes. Probably not worth the risk.
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