Mark Warren performed a calculation that scaling up the F35-B’s thrust ratio (55,000 shp delivering 41,900 lb thrust) implies the Helicarrier carries engine(s) capable of 157 million horsepower (shp) or ~117 gigawatts output. Allocating 20% of the carrier’s gross tonnage to the power plant sets the minimum power density at 10.8 kW/kg.
A 650 MW thermal integrated molten salt reactor with a supercritical CO2 turbine would have about 400 MWe of power with about 200 tons of weight. This would be about 2 kW/kg.
There have been other molten salt designs with about 18 KW of power per liter. Those are early generation designs and the engineers believe that they can achieve 100 kW per liter. So yes an advanced molten salt reactor could provide the power for a SHIELD helicarrier.
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A 650 MW thermal integrated molten salt reactor with a supercritical CO2 turbine would have about 400 MWe of power with about 200 tons of weight. This would be about 2 kW/kg.
There have been other molten salt designs with about 18 KW of power per liter. Those are early generation designs and the engineers believe that they can achieve 100 kW per liter. So yes an advanced molten salt reactor could provide the power for a SHIELD helicarrier.
Read more »