ARC Reactor Package Tesla | Definition with All Details

Affordable, Robust, and Compact (ARC) reactor is an idea of generating reactors given in the Tony Stark movie. After graduating from MIT, Stark generated the reactor at his industry, Stark Industries. Though they succeeded after decades of hard work, they generated a fully functional ARC fusion reactor of their own in about 1990. The ARC package Tesla refers to the electric car by Tesla that has as much power as that of the reactor generated by Stark and his team at MIT. 

One of the most common queries regarding ARC is ‘ how far can Tesla run if the ARC reactor of Stark powers it? This is an arguable query, and you’ll have to clear many other queries before concluding it. So, let’s move down to learn whether it’s possible to generate an ARC reactor practically or not. Moreover, how much distances can Tesla cover with an ARC reactor package? 

What is an ARC Reactor? 

Before we dive into the confusion of whether Tesla can run on an ARC package or not, let’s see what is meant by ARC reactor. ARC is an abbreviation of Affordable, Robust, and Compact. It’s an idea of generating a giant reactor and was first given by Tony Stark in one of his movies in 1990.

The base of this reactor is a tokamak that uses a strong magnetic field to hold the plasma at a very high temperature. Such a high temperature aims to provide the conditions that will favour the fusion for ARC. 

Till now, the ARC reactor is not practical. However, a France-based tokamak named ITER is in the process of carrying out this fusion. It may start working in the field by 2030 and cost more than $10 billion. Finding different cheaper, faster, and quicker approaches is the major aim of this institution.

Many other institutions are also working to make this process functional. Once introduced, such a fusion reactor will prove very cheap and fast for the new generations of Tesla. 

In the movie, the MIT research team uses a unique superconductor to generate ARC. These superconductors are barium copper oxide, providing an effective environment for the ARC reactions. Using these kinds of conductors, the MIT team succeeded in creating the circumstances for the reactor by generating a high-power magnetic field.  

How Much Can ARC Package Tesla Cover? 

According to the design and the mechanism that we can see in Tony Stark’s movie, the ARC reactor can generate as much power to power almost 100,000 homes simultaneously. It will generate about 270MWe of energy which will be about 5 to 6 times more than the energy required to run the plant itself. Stark claims that it will produce about 3 GJ of energy per second. 

We can conclude that Tesla can run about 3000+ miles without recharging from this estimate. Generally, a Tesla battery is about 70KWh to 90KWh. So, a reactor will be far more than these batteries, and Tesla will cover a handsome distance without recharging. 

How Much Will an ARC Reactor Cost? 

Though the ARC reactor is a myth so far, it can take up to $10 billion to create such a reactor. Different research centers are currently busy generating the ARC reactor to provide a handsome amount of energy for different purposes. ITER of France is one of the leading institutions working on such a fusion reactor.

According to Sorbom, it may take more than 5 years to generate an ARC reactor. However, it took decades to generate an ARC reactor in his movie. 

However, different research teams are working to simplify the reaction processes being carried out in the magnetic field. So, this may take less money and will complete in less time. The liquid will prove effective for such reactions include the fluorine lithium beryllium molten salt that will act as a shielding material. 

Moreover, the new idea of the liquid material will also be effective as it will be a good heat exchange source for reaction and a good neutron moderator.

This liquid will get heated when the fusion gets inside it. This way, one can utilize the heat to carry on a high-efficiency Brayton cycle to produce electricity. In this way, the ARC will prove very effective for Tesla. This is why the ARC reactor is also considered feasible to power Tesla. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an ARC Reactor cost?

The initial idea given by Stark will cost about 10 billion dollars. However, as discussed above, the simplified reactor technology may cost somewhere between $4 billion to $5 billion. The older idea may take decades to complete. However, the simplified idea will take only 5 to 6 years. 

Can the ARC Reactor be built?

The ARC reactor idea is against the Law of Conservation of Energy. According to this law, energy can’t be produced or destroyed but can only be transferred from one form to another. But the ARC reactor is an idea of creating energy from high-temperature plasma and other elements. So, the ARC doesn’t seem feasible in real life. 

What is ARC Reactor technology?

ARC refers to Affordable, Robust, and Compact sources of energy. The base of this idea is tokamak which will generate energy from the plasma put in the high magnetic field at a high temperature. This will provide the conditions that are necessary for the fusion. 

Why did Tony Stark put the Arc Reactor in his chest?

He put this reactor in his chest to defend against the Shard’s attack. He did so to create a strong magnetic field to defend his enemies. 

Conclusion

Though the ARC reactor is not feasible in practical life, how much can a Tesla run on it if we take it as a possible thing? The ARC will be an effective source of power for Tesla and power it for more than 3000 miles. So, an ARC reactor package Tesla will be very useful if one succeeds in practical life.