Posted by Big Stevo (208.19.1.86) on July 02, 2002 at 21:04:03:
In Reply to: As far as the exploding fusion reactors brain-bug. posted by FireNexus on July 01, 2002 at 07:28:50:
I was thinking about this today at work actually, and I think it comes from the old Hollywood brain bug that shooting a gas tank with even a pistol will cause it to explode. This idea probably stems from World War II where Japanese Zeros were notorious for their lightly armored fuel tanks. One hit from a tracer would be enough to light up a Zero, and from that design flaw Hollywood has decided that since cars aren't built with armored fuel tanks, they must explode when shot. Problem with that logic is that a tracer bullet is literally burning when its fired, thus causing the tracer effect, whereas normal bullets (or shotgun pellets) are made of lead, which doesn't burn, or even spark when it hits metal (BlackHawk down shows every bullet that strikes anything to spark, so it MUST be true, which it isn't). Now how does this relate to exploding fusion reactors? Well some writer along the way probably got it into his head that reactors need fuel tanks as well, (with the fissionable/fusionable material seperated of course so as not to cause a reaction in the tanks) and if they get shot up (by those super heated lasers no less) the material from one tank will mix with the material from the other and BLAMO instant fusion/fission. I dunno, maybe none of that makes any sense, but it could be a reasonable explination for the exploding reactor bug. Thank you.
Steve