In other words, where do “nuclear powered” vehicles get their power from?
I imagine it’s not from fusion or fission, nor can it involve getting water to turn to steam, an in many other types of power generation.
So how does it work?
EDIT: it seems that nuclear submarines actually do use fission, so I’m switching my question to only focus on space vehicle power generation.
In: 3
Submarines do have a fission reactor that generates steam that drives a turbine. The same for nuclear-powered surface ships. Some use reactors with very high U-235 content so a small reactor can operate for a very long time. We talk about over 93% for US nuclear submarines. This is U-235 levels that usually only exist in nuclear weapons.
Space probes are different they use [ Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator) The have a radioactive element as a heat source. They thermocouples to produce electricity from the temperature difference between the radioactive material and radiators on the outside. This is not a nuclear reactor, it use uses radioactive material as a heat source.
The same idea is used on a [heat-powered electric stove fan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyAEDiQJrSY) The heat is from the fuel that you burn in the stove and not radioactive material.
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