Information I'd love to know

Does textev state whether Nuclear Power Plants are being used on planets as a power source?

I'd like to know what form of power source feeds the seemingly massive amounts of power needed for such an advanced society as a Manticore.

cthia wrote:Does textev state whether Nuclear Power Plants are being used on planets as a power source?

I'd like to know what form of power source feeds the seemingly massive amounts of power needed for such an advanced society as a Manticore.

Fusion power is used both in large utility systems and smaller building backup systems. There are some good explanations of in it Cauldron of Ghosts.

cthia wrote:

SWM wrote:It depends on when you mean, and what you mean by "replaced".

I'm not sure I would agree that either one "replaced" anyone in their fields. In Haven, there simply wasn't anyone doing the kind of innovative work that Shannon does. Shannon did replace someone as head of Bolthole, but I wouldn't call that replacing someone in her field. Bolthole was just a construction site before Shannon got there, not an R&D site.

And if you are talking about Sonja's early work, she didn't replace anyone in her field either. She was one of the first people King Harold brought in for Project Gram. (You really need to read House of Steel.) There was no one to replace because, again, no one was doing that kind of work before. Subsequently, Sonja did replace several people in various positions, such as Head of BuWeaps and Commander of Grendelsbane. But I wouldn't call that replacing someone in her field, only in a position.

Both Shannon and Sonja created their fields in their respective navies.

Yes, I really must read House of Steel. I had planned to grab a few reads before returning to work. We'll see.

Regarding Sonja, I can accept that answer. But in Shannon's case, there must have been some one person or persons staying within shouting distance of Sonja thus staying within shouting distance of the RMN or it seems Sonja (RMN tech) would have rolled them over long ago before Shannon was... appropriated.

Yes, there were some tech advances that allowed Haven to stay within shouting distance of the RMN before Sharon. But almost all of those advances were bought from sources in the Solarian League. A few were simply stolen and adapted from captured Manticoran ships. Almost none of it was developed by Haven itself, until Shannon came along. There really wasn't anyone in Haven for Shannon to replace.

Also, a large part of why Haven stayed in shouting distance was the sheer size of their navy and a few very clever admirals.

cthia wrote:Does textev state whether Nuclear Power Plants are being used on planets as a power source?

I'd like to know what form of power source feeds the seemingly massive amounts of power needed for such an advanced society as a Manticore.

In addition to Theemile's response, there is textev of ground based power collectors receiving power from orbital power plants which I think were solar based systems.

cthia wrote:Does textev state whether Nuclear Power Plants are being used on planets as a power source?

I'd like to know what form of power source feeds the seemingly massive amounts of power needed for such an advanced society as a Manticore.

I am assuming that you are referring to fission power plants. If so the answer is, Yes and no the RMN/GSN use them in LAC's. Grayson also used them and took them to new levels of output. Grayson probably had them on planet but after joining Manticore they probably decommissioned them and disposed of them with undue haste.

saber964 wrote:I am assuming that you are referring to fission power plants. If so the answer is, Yes and no the RMN/GSN use them in LAC's. Grayson also used them and took them to new levels of output. Grayson probably had them on planet but after joining Manticore they probably decommissioned them and disposed of them with undue haste.

New fusion plants would definitely be more efficient (since for planetary purposes there's no reason to restrict yourself the plants so small they fall into the apparent scaling-down "trap" which leads to fusion for LACs having such high inefficiencies that fission plants are more effective despite the disparity in the raw power per gram between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

The rad shields that even pre-alliance Grayson must have had for her warships should solve a lot of the issues with fission plants though. If you can use rad shield generator to shield the plant and the reactor casing from neutrons (and hence neutron embrittlement) the thing would last far longer. Plus you could presumably shield spent fuel assemblies in transit to avoid contaminating the reactor area during refueling operations. Though for redundancy you'd still want passive shielding to prevent radiation release if the rad shields ever went offline.

Debated if this should have gone here or in the 'rambling and musings' thread, but it seems to be a better fit here.

Two posers while re-reading Torch of Freedom:

1. Where did Klaus (and by osmosis, Stacey) Hauptman get their deep hatred of genetic slavery from? It's enough that Klaus built the frigates for the Anti-Slavery Society (which ended up being in the hands of the Audoubon Ballroom and then Torch) at cost (and maybe at a loss), but then for Stacey to will Hauptman Enterprises to Honor if both she and her father were killed? There has to be a story behind it (and not just Honor; while she is best buds with Stacey, her and Klaus do not have a warm relationship...a working one, yes, but I doubt it will ever be a close one.

So where did that hatred come from?



2. Admiral Roczak and Governor Barregos: Can that partnership remain? History has indicated when 2-3 people have tried to take power, it usually ends up badly for all but one of them (see Ancient Rome). Now it could be the Roczak is satisfied with being the top military leader and letter Orval run the politics, but I really wonder if this can last. Sometime in the future, maybe after the Maya Sector is independent and well-off, I can see it breaking down. Which is sad, as both are interesting characters in their own right.


Thoughts?

Hutch wrote:Debated if this should have gone here or in the 'rambling and musings' thread, but it seems to be a better fit here.

Two posers while re-reading Torch of Freedom:

1. Where did Klaus (and by osmosis, Stacey) Hauptman get their deep hatred of genetic slavery from? It's enough that Klaus built the frigates for the Anti-Slavery Society (which ended up being in the hands of the Audoubon Ballroom and then Torch) at cost (and maybe at a loss), but then for Stacey to will Hauptman Enterprises to Honor if both she and her father were killed? There has to be a story behind it (and not just Honor; while she is best buds with Stacey, her and Klaus do not have a warm relationship...a working one, yes, but I doubt it will ever be a close one.

So where did that hatred come from.


Thoughts?

It could be any number of reasons, like one of Klaus ancestors could have been a rescued slave. IIRC Klaus's ancestor Eric worked for SKM's first shipping companies under Countess Acton in the mid 16th Century PD.

Hutch wrote:Debated if this should have gone here or in the 'rambling and musings' thread, but it seems to be a better fit here.

Two posers while re-reading Torch of Freedom:

1. Where did Klaus (and by osmosis, Stacey) Hauptman get their deep hatred of genetic slavery from? It's enough that Klaus built the frigates for the Anti-Slavery Society (which ended up being in the hands of the Audoubon Ballroom and then Torch) at cost (and maybe at a loss), but then for Stacey to will Hauptman Enterprises to Honor if both she and her father were killed? There has to be a story behind it (and not just Honor; while she is best buds with Stacey, her and Klaus do not have a warm relationship...a working one, yes, but I doubt it will ever be a close one.

So where did that hatred come from?



2. Admiral Roczak and Governor Barregos: Can that partnership remain? History has indicated when 2-3 people have tried to take power, it usually ends up badly for all but one of them (see Ancient Rome). Now it could be the Roczak is satisfied with being the top military leader and letter Orval run the politics, but I really wonder if this can last. Sometime in the future, maybe after the Maya Sector is independent and well-off, I can see it breaking down. Which is sad, as both are interesting characters in their own right.


Thoughts?

A lot of time such issues are because of a major change in the relationship. See the Russian revolution, Lennin died after a short time in control and his 2 subordinates (Stalin and Trotsky) fight for the power vaccum. The same happen after Stalin's death when Baria - the #2 figure in Russian Politics quickly became the #1 figure in earthworm food.

Mental illness is historically a major factor, where Leaders slowly decend to madness (probably because someone was after them and poisoning them - huh... paranoids do have enemies, who knew??) and they turn on their loyal subordinates.

Hutch wrote:Debated if this should have gone here or in the 'rambling and musings' thread, but it seems to be a better fit here.

Two posers while re-reading Torch of Freedom:

1. Where did Klaus (and by osmosis, Stacey) Hauptman get their deep hatred of genetic slavery from? It's enough that Klaus built the frigates for the Anti-Slavery Society (which ended up being in the hands of the Audoubon Ballroom and then Torch) at cost (and maybe at a loss), but then for Stacey to will Hauptman Enterprises to Honor if both she and her father were killed? There has to be a story behind it (and not just Honor; while she is best buds with Stacey, her and Klaus do not have a warm relationship...a working one, yes, but I doubt it will ever be a close one.

So where did that hatred come from?

Hauptman's pride - his sense of identity, really - is bound up in being a self-made man coming from a background without privilege. (His initial social status and just being Manticoran don't count, to his mind. Everyone wears some blinders.) If he's both serious and thoughtful about that, he's going to identify with genetic slaves much, much more than most people who can live their lives ignoring it. He can see himself as one of them (or at least believes he can), and every one of them as peers of his who've never had the least opportunity to make what he's made of himself. "There but for the grace of the Cherwell Convention go I." Stacey cannot even pretend to be self-made, but she does have her father's virtues and fewer of his vices, so she may be along for that ride.

Also, slavery's tied in with the mess of Silesia and the arrogance and hypocricy of the Solarian League. He's got to deal with the results of that every day, and what it means to his people - his employees and shareholders. That's something that I'm sure has been making him angry for decades, and Stacey since birth. The common-man identification is also going to give them both short patience with all the hand-wringing about Ballroom tactics from people who've never so much as imagined the life of a slave.

2. Admiral Roczak and Governor Barregos: Can that partnership remain? History has indicated when 2-3 people have tried to take power, it usually ends up badly for all but one of them (see Ancient Rome). Now it could be the Roczak is satisfied with being the top military leader and letter Orval run the politics, but I really wonder if this can last. Sometime in the future, maybe after the Maya Sector is independent and well-off, I can see it breaking down. Which is sad, as both are interesting characters in their own right.


Thoughts?

It helps that they are genuinely friends, recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, and have complementary rather than competing roles. I'm going to hold out hope for them remaining partners.