The following was posted by Bob Greenyer. I think it shows the Russian ‘can-do’ spirit (a la Parkhomov), and while I don’t think this is probably the safest of practices, I think there’s a lot of merit in the fuel pellet idea.
Starting to document the second experiment / Lab I saw last week.
One team, sponsored by a Russian registered entity “LockTherm LLC”, again with no luxury of a glovebox, is taking a very different approach to their experiments and has developed a very ingenious method of pressing pellets for their reactors. The technique is very valuable to would be replicators and has many advantages, it makes powder mixes less likely to
1. loft (i.e. reduce likely hood of particles in air after pressing, protecting operators)
2. react with moisture through the bulk
It also makes them far easier to pre-package and distribute and easier to handle predictably insert into a reactor without distributing powder in other places inside the tube as we have previously encountered. This may make it more possible for the MFMP to send out kits.
Lastly, it is affordable and accessible because it is about as ‘garage’ as you can do things – it is based on a car jack!
