Lee Duna@lemmy.nz to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 9 months agoJapanese experimental nuclear fusion reactor inauguratedphys.orgexternal-linkmessage-square68fedilinkarrow-up1409arrow-down13
arrow-up1406arrow-down1external-linkJapanese experimental nuclear fusion reactor inauguratedphys.orgLee Duna@lemmy.nz to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 9 months agomessage-square68fedilink
minus-squaresuperminerJG@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up10·9 months agoThe reaction used in fusion generators is: [2]H + [3]H -> [4]He + n Since tritium is usually produced from lithium in situ, you add: [6]Li + n -> [3]H + [4]He. The only radioactive thing here is tritium, and it’s mostly confined to the reactor. Also, tritium isn’t nearly as bad as fission waste.
minus-squareperviouslyiner@lemm.eelinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up3·9 months agoSo does this also mean that glow-in-the-dark watches (the non electronic type) get cheaper?
minus-squaresuperminerJG@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up8·edit-29 months agoI mean, if you could extract any tritium from the reactor cavity, but it’s probably going to get burned up instantly. The reactions I showed add up to this overall reaction. Neutrons simply serve as a catalyst. [2]H + [6]Li -> 2 [4]He On the bright side, fusion reactors produce helium as a byproduct, which might make party balloons cheaper.
The reaction used in fusion generators is:
[2]H + [3]H -> [4]He + n
Since tritium is usually produced from lithium in situ, you add:
[6]Li + n -> [3]H + [4]He.
The only radioactive thing here is tritium, and it’s mostly confined to the reactor. Also, tritium isn’t nearly as bad as fission waste.
So does this also mean that glow-in-the-dark watches (the non electronic type) get cheaper?
I mean, if you could extract any tritium from the reactor cavity, but it’s probably going to get burned up instantly.
The reactions I showed add up to this overall reaction. Neutrons simply serve as a catalyst.
[2]H + [6]Li -> 2 [4]He
On the bright side, fusion reactors produce helium as a byproduct, which might make party balloons cheaper.