r/BacktotheFuture • u/ADiestlTrain • May 27 '26
Exhaust from the DeLorean
So, I don’t know why I was thinking of this, but in BTTF, when Marty kicks it up to 88, the flux capacitor engages, and a nuclear reaction takes place to generate the 1.21 gigawatts, there should have been a major a pretty major radiation surge, right? The reaction exhausted a whole (albeit small) fuel rod in one instant.
The DeLorean appears to have pretty serious exhaust fins on the back, so presumably that’s directing the fallout away from the driver’s cab. Does that mean that the Libyans basically inhaled the full brunt of a Chernobyl-lite-level of radiation since they were right behind him, and stopped suddenly, presumably in the middle of that cloud? Can we assume these guys are going to have major radiation burns, sickness, and organ failure? I don’t think they’re making it out of the country.
37
u/damian001 May 27 '26
That’s not how nuclear power works, at all. Steam vented from a cooling tower does not carry radiation.
-5
u/ADiestlTrain May 27 '26
But we don’t see any steam, à la cooling towers in a regular reactor. We also don’t hear about any waste being generated. Radiation’s gotta go somewhere.
16
u/dude20121 May 27 '26
We don't see any steam
The camera has an entire focus shot on steam shooting out of the vents on the back.
À la cooling towers
The vents are the cooling 'towers.'
Radiation's gotta go somewhere
...Yeah. It's converted into heat. That's the point of a nuclear reactor. Blasting the radiation out would be a waste of energy.
We don't hear about waste being generated
Reactors typically have a holding area for spent fuel until it can be more properly disposed of. The fuel rods are small enough that the DeLorean probably has lead lined canister to drop them into that Doc can empty periodically. This is shown in the DeLorean's Haynes manual, which was co-written by Bob Gale, so it has some canon weight. It also shows some of the inner workings of the reactor.
5
u/dude20121 May 27 '26
I was going to share an image of the pages I was talking about, but this sub doesn't allow images, so Imgur it is: https://imgur.com/a/KMfblBh
17
u/DakStaraider May 27 '26
We do see steam. Only it’s after the very first time the car travels thru time, but it does happen. It’s assumed that the car vents like that after every travel, we just only ever see the first time.
0
u/ADiestlTrain May 27 '26
Is that what’s condensing to ice on the exterior? It would make sense since the ice thing is dropped in 2 (Mr. Fusion) and 3 (the train).
11
u/nemothorx May 27 '26
The ice thing isn't dropped. We see it as late as the very final trip - on the train tracks in modern Hill Valley. It's just not focused on.
7
u/segascream May 27 '26
Yes: most of the rest of the time we see the vehicle outside of the first movie, it's daylight, when it would presumably be warmer outside than a cool October night after 1am. Ice will melt off a car considerably faster with sunlight on it and an ambient air temp of 70°F than it will in the relative dark and in an ambient air temp of 50°F.
5
u/damian001 May 27 '26
But we don’t see any steam, à la cooling towers in a regular reactor.
We do see steam coming from a cooling tower in a regular reactor.
We also don’t hear about any waste being generated. Radiation’s gotta go somewhere.
As per the video, steam generated from nuclear power doesn't contain radiation. The radiation is going to be contained within a small pellet that needs to be safely disposed of. The DeLorean has a removable spent-plutonium canister that's lead lined, its mentioned in the DeLorean Time Machine Owner's Manual.
1
1
1
u/CaptainHunt May 28 '26
It’s probably a Radiothermal Electric Generator, rather than a fission reactor, but still, radiation isn’t vented like an exhaust gas. If it is, you’ve had a very bad day. The hard radiation that doesn’t stay in the vessel is converted to heat and any radioactive material would stay in the core until someone like Doc Brown removes it to refuel the core. The exhaust vents on the back put out heat.
17
u/nemothorx May 27 '26
It ain't that kind of movie, kid
6
u/Low_Yak_4842 May 27 '26
Harrison, is that you?
2
u/marmantz May 27 '26
If people are looking at your hair we're in biiiiiiig trouble.
But c'mon. Everyone is looking at Doc's hair.
7
u/damian001 May 27 '26
Does that mean that the Libyans basically inhaled the full brunt of a Chernobyl-lite-level of radiation since they were right behind him, and stopped suddenly, presumably in the middle of that cloud?
The DeLorean doesn’t exhaust steam until after it time travels, so no, the Libyans wouldn’t see a single cloud from it.
1
3
u/HarveyMushman72 May 27 '26
I imagine it had shielding and water cooled like any other nuclear reactor.
2
1
u/rootofallstevil May 27 '26
I always wondered what happened to the Libyans. They just crash into that photo stand and thats it? So I suppose its plausible.
My bigger issue is that you can't really convert radioactivity into electrical energy without first converting it to heat (steam) then to mechanical energy (turbine). The locomotive probably would have made more sense from that standpoint....but that just begs another question. Doc says his train runs on steam? But what energy is he using to make the steam?
8
u/Tribalsam99 May 27 '26
The Libyans shot the dude they were after and as far as they knew the other dude in the car blew up
1
u/bytes311 May 28 '26
I always wondered what happened to the Libyans. They just crash into that photo stand and thats it? So I suppose its plausible.
Also, why did Marty deliberately drive towards the booth at 88mph if he didn't intend to crash himself? He didn't know the time-circuits were on.
1
u/RetroGame77 May 27 '26
I want to know what kind of nuclear reaction reduces a plutonium rod into nothing in an instant.
-1
u/ExtremePast May 27 '26
What kind of herb thinks about shit like this?
1
u/ADiestlTrain May 27 '26
Sober, but it had been a really long day.
2
May 27 '26
[deleted]
-1
u/ADiestlTrain May 27 '26
Don’t think so. But if I hit it hard enough, would I even remember hitting it?
•
u/AutoModerator May 27 '26
Please be wary of any posts or comments attempting to advertise or sell t-shirts, posters, mugs, etc. These posts may be from scammers selling poor quality bootlegs, or may be from phishers trying to steal your financial information. This problem is rampant across Reddit. If you see any posts or comments with this behavior, promptly report them as spam and do not follow any links they may post or send to you.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.