It's not just power plants that use atomic energy,
but also vehicles. Submarines have been doing it for quite a while, taking
advantage of the immense range provided which allows them to remain at sea for
very long periods of time. So why not use it for personal transportation
solutions as well?
The fact is, generating atomic energy using nuclear
fusion isn't simple, and it also requires some highly radioactive chemical
elements you wouldn't want to spend too much time around unless you like having
three arms and no kids. But apart from that, it's one of those situations where
the slightest mistake or malfunction can have catastrophic results. See the
recent Fukushima disaster or, a little further down the road, the 1986
Chernobyl incident.
Which makes it somewhat funny that the one person
who thought making a nuclear-powered car was a good idea comes from Russia, the
country that was running the Chernobyl plant at the time (that was before the
USSR broke). His name is Grigory Gorin and he chose Audi to be the brand that
pioneers this solution.
Grigory is a car designer, but his sketch of the
Audi Mesarthim F-Tron Quattro concept contains a somewhat detailed structure of
the vehicle's insides, with every bit that makes the wheels spin having a very
clearly defined place.
The design itself is best described as
odd-futuristic, with the two seats pushed very far up front and a rear that
looks like the carcass of a goat after three hungry tigers finished playing
with it. Or maybe something else. But the best part has got to be the glass
canopy that lifts and slides forward, easing the access into the car that
wasn't helped at all by the diminutive doors.
Like all devices that use atomic energy, it is
actually a glorified steam engine. Unlike the previous locomotives, the water
vapors don't generate motion directly, but spin a turbine instead that powers a
generator. So, yes, the Mesarthim is essentially an electric vehicle.
