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I hear CERN will be selling anti-matter for 50 cents and ounce next year... But someone has to develop and anti-scale to weigh it...
They (them, those people who build things) actually have come a long way in nuclear reactor technology. Latest developments for portable reactors use a different fuel type which is 10% enriched U235 core and U238 ceramic coated fuel pellets that are much safer. They are also helium cooled which drasticsally reduce the coolant footprint. But, even the most modern designs are still bigger than a car. But I think nuclear power trains could be a reality in the next 15 years.
Since the process of fission is based on the fuel's mass, there's no way you'd ever be able to attain fission from a BB size piece of anything. However, I have done some research on materials that may react with radiation emitting materials, similar to the way voltiac (solar cells) work with sunlight. Imagine a small chamber in your trunk that housed a very small amount of radioactive material lined with a material that converted gamma radiation directly to DC current... Might not power the car, but I bet it could run a hair dryer...
Naturally it will be intended for off-road use and shouldn't be used for time travel...
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