Why fission & not fusion? Let me count the ways.
1. Fusion occurs in the Sun b/c its lrg mass gravitationally compresses/confines positively charged nuclei to hi enuf temps to cause fusion & release energy. In a fusion reactor, confinement is done by magnetic fields. This ...
1. Fusion occurs in the Sun b/c its lrg mass gravitationally compresses/confines positively charged nuclei to hi enuf temps to cause fusion & release energy. In a fusion reactor, confinement is done by magnetic fields. This ...
... process is unstable. Physicists will be lucky to confine plasma for 1 min per day. No success yet. Many think they're still decades away.
2. Sun's core generates 30 watts/m^3. Thermal power density gener'd in the core of a fission reactor can be a million times gr8ter.
2. Sun's core generates 30 watts/m^3. Thermal power density gener'd in the core of a fission reactor can be a million times gr8ter.
3. Molten salt fission reactors (eg, 2-fluid thorium breeder reactors) are safer (no meltdowns), produce little/no radioactive waste, burn the waste of previous reactors, are not weaponizable (no unburned Pu 239), & are already the basis of commercial plans in other nations.
4. Estimates of thorium reserves as of 2014: India 1070 kilotons; Brazil ,US & Australia 600 kilotons; China 100 kilotons. In other words, plenty!
THIS is the future of truly green, consistent, round-the-clock energy.
The time is now to rethink nuclear energy.
THIS is the future of truly green, consistent, round-the-clock energy.
The time is now to rethink nuclear energy.
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