The RTG-500 Long-Duration Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Needs an Enable Switch

[Davidian1024]

The RTG-500 currently has no enable toggle switch.  It runs for nearly 22 years starting from the moment the mission starts.

I think it should have an enable switch, similar to the KR4-P3 deep space fission reactor.

Or at least a switch that can only be enabled, similar to the OX-4L 1x6 non-retractable solar array.  Maybe this is the most realistic?  The idea being that once the reaction is started, it cannot be stopped.

It seems to be modeled as a large version of the PB-NUK radioisotope thermoelectric generator.  Both have the same lifetime.  Both have the same amount of EC output per unit mass.

My justification for this is that I can imagine missions where you would not want to start running the reactor until after years of mission time has already elapsed.  I'm writing this after having just tried to execute such a mission.  I didn't try to start running my dawn engines until after I had timewarped for a few decades.  I went to start my engines to find the my RTGs were depleted before ever being used.

Perhaps this is an example of the game trying to lean in favor of realism?  Is the idea that it's not feasible or practical to start the reaction on the craft?  Like, it needs to be started on the ground and then installed in the part?  I have a hard time accepting that considering the KR4-P3 can be enabled and disabled at will.

[darthgently]

24 minutes ago, Davidian1024 said:

The RTG-500 currently has no enable toggle switch.  It runs for nearly 22 years starting from the moment the mission starts.

I think it should have an enable switch, similar to the KR4-P3 deep space fission reactor.

Or at least a switch that can only be enabled, similar to the OX-4L 1x6 non-retractable solar array.  Maybe this is the most realistic?  The idea being that once the reaction is started, it cannot be stopped.

It seems to be modeled as a large version of the PB-NUK radioisotope thermoelectric generator.  Both have the same lifetime.  Both have the same amount of EC output per unit mass.

My justification for this is that I can imagine missions where you would not want to start running the reactor until after years of mission time has already elapsed.  I'm writing this after having just tried to execute such a mission.  I didn't try to start running my dawn engines until after I had timewarped for a few decades.  I went to start my engines to find the my RTGs were depleted before ever being used.

Perhaps this is an example of the game trying to lean in favor of realism?  Is the idea that it's not feasible or practical to start the reaction on the craft?  Like, it needs to be started on the ground and then installed in the part?  I have a hard time accepting that considering the KR4-P3 can be enabled and disabled at will.

How do you prevent radioisotopes from emitting radiation?   Let the world know, for pity's sake.  We could make nuclear waste disposal much simpler and cheaper if we could just turn it off, darn it

[Astroneer08]

It might be just the electricity drain from having a probe core on board, those drain at around 0.01 units/second and that triggered the RTG

[Davidian1024]

24 minutes ago, Astroneer08 said:

It might be just the electricity drain from having a probe core on board, those drain at around 0.01 units/second and that triggered the RTG

No, EC drain has no effect here.  The info on the RTGs says they're always active.

I'm hoping they could change the way they work to at least allow them to be inactive until you decide to enable them.

Ideally, I'd like them to be just like the fission reactor, where you can turn them off/on and control their conversion rates, etc.

[Davidian1024]

2 hours ago, darthgently said:

How do you prevent radioisotopes from emitting radiation?   Let the world know, for pity's sake.  We could make nuclear waste disposal much simpler and cheaper if we could just turn it off, darn it

Whoa, no need to condescend.

I don't know what real world processes these parts were modeled after.

Maybe you'd be so kind as to explain.

[The Aziz]

Do you even know what an RTG is? Aside from knowing the full name of course 

What's it made of, for example? Or where it has been used IRL?

[darthgently]

7 hours ago, Davidian1024 said:

Whoa, no need to condescend.

I don't know what real world processes these parts were modeled after.

Maybe you'd be so kind as to explain.

RTGs and fission reactors rely on radioisotopes for fuel.  These materials emit radiation before they are even mined.  This radiation will occur until the radioisotope becomes a less radioactive element.  Uranium eventually turns to lead, by way of passing through being other elements, like radium, for example. 

Shielding doesn't stop the reaction, shielding merely prevents the radiation from having an undesired effect.

I was aiming for humor, not condescension.  The assumption being that with Google and Bing and Wikipedia being at anyone's fingertips anyone mildly curious about this stuff probably already knows the basics.  I had to look it up years ago in a Time Life Science series book that my parents kept on the shelf when I was a kid.

[Davidian1024]

5 hours ago, darthgently said:

I was aiming for humor, not condescension.

Oh ok, no worries then.  And, I do appreciate the explanation.

And I must admit, I was lazy here.  Even before I made this post in the back of my mind I knew there was probably a reason there was no way to turn them on/off.  I decided to just post without doing any research first.

7 hours ago, The Aziz said:

Do you even know what an RTG is? Aside from knowing the full name of course 

What's it made of, for example? Or where it has been used IRL?

All I knew was what was written in the games info box.  So, all I knew was the full name.  I assumed they were some sort of reactor.

I did finally go read some articles about the ones in the voyager spacecraft.  So now I know. 

I really do love how rooted in real world science KSP is.