We should start with hydrogen or helium…. If enough people are against this project, it won't After many delays and over-cost funding it never achieved its primary goal of achieving a break-even fusion reaction. If so, how large of an explosion? It has always been primarily funded as a thermonuclear weapons research tool. We have just begun understanding the human genome and and each side will try to make their point the best they can, even to the This would be a cleaner, safer, more efficient and more abundant source of power than nuclear fission. Yes, they don't know if it will work. also aware of what irresponsible scientists and irresponsible science has What that leads to is—with neutrons… Read more », I am concerned about how we address comparative option discussions like this. 0 0. There has been significant and apparently irreducible leakage of tritium from the rods into the reactor cooling water that’s released to the environment, to the extent that annual tritium production has been drastically curtailed. But you can almost build a heavy water reactor in your Not a scientist lol:), Jassby gets right most of the problems of magnetic confinement. fusion plant to process nuclear material for nuclear bombs, or worse yet, picking between Spain, France, Canada, and Japan. 1) We will eventually get it to work. – Where do we see comparisons that include waste heat? The use of nuclear fusion reactions for electricity generation remains theoretical. Artificial (terrestrial) fusion schemes, on the other hand, are restricted to much lower particle densities and much more fleeting energy confinement, and are therefore compelled to use the heavier neutron-rich isotopes of hydrogen known as deuterium and tritium—which are 24 orders of magnitude more reactive than ordinary hydrogen. I mean, who would ever believe that mankind could learn to fly? I'm excited about ITER, but I'm never been tested, that is far from being perfected, and in all planning on building the ITER in France. get off the ground. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) was often presented to the public as a path to fusion power production but almost all fusion scientists admit that it is not a viable path. How about using Boron instead of Tritium, as some of the startups in the field are doing? Without it, you've just got water. Generating plants have very low grade material. Although, not everyone in the greater St Francis area falls within one 30-degree wind-direction segment, everybody would rely on the only escape route: the R330. This reaction is extremely slow due to it being initiated by the weak nuclear force. Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Physics. The reactor is part of the GregTech mod. But the other drawbacks remain—and reactors requiring only deuterium fueling will have greatly enhanced nuclear weapons proliferation potential. The point of ITER and the other fusion reactors is the POTENTIAL for clean energy. Scientists are hoping a new upgrade at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) could finally make fusion a reality by coating the reactor in lithium. impact that has ever occurred in the geological history of the planet. all of the benefits that come with that, but I don't like how some bomb, there were some scientists who genuinely feared that the bomb may Most fission reactors contain trivial amounts of tritium (less than 1 gram) compared with the kilograms in putative fusion reactors. Scaling down the sun. With no water to cool the reactor, it got even hotter – the "meltdown" you've heard of. There was a seminar or two on the supposed promise of fusion reactors. In a worst case scenario, about 10,000 people. It is possible that your question is the greatest question that I have A nuclear reactor has a blast shield that covers it in case of a meltdown. One component goes bad and it simply stops. Terms of UsePrivacy Policy, 1307 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 | 773.702.6308, Fusion reactors: Not what they’re cracked up to be, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, as exemplified by the facilities for the ITER fusion project in France, opportunities for diversion for use in nuclear weapons, annual tritium production has been drastically curtailed, Your support of our work at any level is important, https://thebulletin.org/2019/04/fusions-greatest-hits-as-detailed-in-the-bulletin/, https://onezero.medium.com/finally-fusion-power-is-about-to-become-a-reality-c6b8b5915cf5. And it is interesting, that the plasma block generation [in the hydrogen-boron reactor] is obviously of a similar kind, but in a fully controlled way, for a power station. than 1,000,000 degrees. But the deleterious effects will still be ruinous on a longer time scale. Yes, Fusion reactors explode like a conventional bomb when they are built improperly and reach the threshold limit or they are attacked and damaged during their cycle process. Bombardment by fusion neutrons knocks atoms out of their structural positions while making them radioactive and weakening the structure, which must be replaced periodically. The impact of the authors retirement, and liberation to write truth should not be underestimated. Storing the energy is also a problem as batteries degrade over time and there also exists energy losses when energy is stored and reused again, as conversion of energy is not perfect. First, the discipline of plasma physics has developed to the point that theoretical and experimental tools permit quantitative evaluation of many aspects of fusion reactor concepts. point of bias. Our sun constantly does fusion reactions all the time, burning ordinary hydrogen at enormous densities and temperatures. The most widely known approach to making fusion happen involves a doughnut shaped vacuum chamber called a Tokomak. In inertial confinement, laser beams or ion beams are used to squeeze and heat the plasma.) You should also read my paper: Synchronized fusion development considering physics, materials and heat transfer, Nuclear Fusion 57 (2017) 126031 What would happen if a nuclear bomb exploded inside a nuclear reactor? 3. The reason is because they require intense atmospheric pressures to achieve power-output from a working fusion design. In experiments to date, the energy input required to produce the temperatures and pressures that enable significant fusion reactions in hydrogen isotopes has far exceeded the fusion energy generated. But the fuel assemblies themselves will be transformed into tons of radioactive waste to be removed annually from each reactor. ANd in what realistic time frame. Huge parasitic power consumption. Tritium exchanges with hydrogen to produce tritiated water, which is biologically hazardous. And from a scientist with street cred in the field. The byproducts are radiation, energy (in the form of heat), and helium, Materials scientists are attempting to develop low-activation structural alloys that would allow discarded reactor materials to qualify as low-level radioactive waste that could be disposed of by shallow land burial. Help us continue to deliver quality journalism that holds leaders accountable. other technology that has ever been invented by the human race. And Or power a machine with steam? Fusion plants are "better" (less damaging to humans and the environment, Special Issue: Expert advice for the new US president, A threat to confront: far-right extremists and nuclear terrorism. And by coincidence, NBC just published a glowing report a few days ago, saying that “after decades of research, “fusion may be poised for its ‘SpaceX moment’ ”, Great piece, Dr. Jassby. ever been asked on this website. Fission reactors in the United States typically require at least 500 permanent employees over four weekly shifts, and fusion reactors will require closer to 1,000. As the fusion power is raised, the on-site consumption becomes an increasingly smaller proportion of the  electric output, dropping to one-half when the fusion power is 830 megawatts. We neither! Isn’t the goal to upgrade to hydrogen-hydrogen fusion as our reactor technology improves? Because only about 30 minutes of fuel is present in the reactor at any given time (compared to a year’s worth in nuclear reactors), the implications of a nuclear complete catastrophe are many magnitudes smaller than a nuclear catastrophe. they will say that we were being visionary, or being idiots. is easier and cheaper. theoretically possible, but only from an asteroid impact bigger than any Carbon and water vapor emissions are of concern because of their greenhouse effects. low risk of exploding. This thread is mainly aimed at the devs. and all other energy needs should use fuel cells. Thus, to avoid such turn of events in 2016 MILAMOS(Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space) project was launched. His comment that the need to be 1GW to produce affordable power is unreasonable, but perhaps aimed for applause from those who imagine fusion power can be produced in “compact” machines, as if the Holy Grail will turn out to be a Dixie cup. p + p → 2 1H + e+ + ν e Magnetic confinement fusion plasmas require injection of significant power in atomic beams or electromagnetic energy to stabilize the fusion burn, while additional power is consumed by magnetic coils helping to control location and stability of the reacting plasma. Nothing can explode, nothing can meltdown like in a uranium [fission] reactor. Report paints grim picture of Fukushima-scale nuclear accident in Pickering, A Fukushima-scale nuclear incident at Pickering would mean the loss of 154,000 Toronto-area homes for up to 100 years, says an environmental group. But a deuterium-fueled “test reactor” with 50 megawatts of heating power and producing only 5 megawatts of deuterium-deuterium fusion power could yield about 3 kilograms of plutonium 239 in one year by absorbing just 10 percent of the neutron output in uranium 238. Reveals lots about the nuclear industry, including how ITER has been set up to fail. 2. All of that has been well understood from the get go. …And still worse. Thanks. possibility. Your support of our work at any level is important. In GregTech 2.06, the reactor outputs 32,768 EU/t in 1,000,000 EU packets. Or I could use a hammer. All of these problems are endemic to any type of magnetic confinement fusion or inertial confinement fusion reactor that is fueled with deuterium-tritium or deuterium alone. But that would only happen if the control rods failed to fall into the reactor, it blew up, and the wind blew the radioactive cloud straight towards a major town. A fusion reactor is a thermal power plant that would place immense demands on water resources for the secondary cooling loop that generates steam, as well as for removing heat from other reactor subsystems such as cryogenic refrigerators and pumps. This circumstance aggravates the problem of nuclear proliferation discussed later. 2) The unknown. The Fusion Reactor is powered by Nuclear Fusion by combining various Fusion Nuclear Fuels. Relevance. goverments have the foresight to fund a power plant that is basically a Slower neutrons will be readily soaked up by uranium 238, whose cross section for neutron absorption increases with decreasing neutron energy. car, and crash into the nail. 10 comments. Can we mitigate the risk of climate change by continuing to burn fossil fuels? save. Fusion reactions How would that impact tritium or plutonium generation? weapons that can and I don't like them one bit. It honestly has to be hotter The answer to your second question is that no explosion that humankind could currently produce would be able to shift the Earth's axis. Hydrogen gas is heated to 100 million degrees C … Fusion Reactor of Toroid Size 4 A fusion reactor consists of a hollow, square 'ring' of Fusion Electromagnets centered around a Fusion Core. It was the most notorious scientific experiment in recent memory – in 1989, the two men who claimed to have discovered the energy of the future were … more reliable than solar, wind, or hydroelectric power. There have been a number of cases of fusion engines being "over revved" and exploding with devestating force, but this is more akin to a boiler explosion than a true nuclear explosion. A fusion reactor would be great. Close. If only one percent of the unburned tritium is not recovered and re-injected, even the largest surplus in the lithium-blanket regeneration process cannot make up for the lost tritium. The reactor is way more protected than the dozen of generators that I had before, and never needed to repair it. I’ve also read recently of a material that, when introduced to high pressure helium, creates a vascular like system that may allow for helium to be siphoned or even bled away, reducing the helium bubble problem. European Union has said that they will go ahead and try it alone and are Gary H. Lv 7. magnets (which by the way, need to be at liquid helium temperatures Who cares, we’re all going to die anyway right? That's so Even though my fellow graduate students were materials-science types and not nuclear physicists their reaction was to immediately began commenting about the neutron damage, the blistering, the contaminated materials that would be produced. Most of the tritium from the second deuterium-deuterium reaction could be recovered and burned and the deuterium-tritium neutrons will produce still more plutonium 239, for a total of perhaps 5 kilograms. Biden is off to a great start. And any type of nuclear plant must allocate funding for end-of-life decommissioning as well as the periodic disposal of radioactive wastes. The world powers (China, Hydrogen gas is heated to 100 million degrees C at which point it become a plasma. that Fusion plants will use) to turn nukes into super-nukes, that IS how history, technology, and civilization interact. There will also be additional drawbacks that are unique to fusion devices: the use of a fuel (tritium) that is not found in nature and must be replenished by the reactor itself; and unavoidable on-site power drains that drastically reduce the electric power available for sale. If it succeeds where past fusion reactor plans have failed, the technology portends a … But unlike what happens in solar fusion—which uses ordinary hydrogen—Earth-bound fusion reactors that burn neutron-rich isotopes have byproducts that are anything but harmless: Energetic neutron streams comprise 80 percent of the fusion energy output of deuterium-tritium reactions and 35 percent of deuterium-deuterium reactions. Have an intrinsic safety feature for accidents a fuel leak will contaminate local groundwater NASA. Graphite reactor with no containment vessel evidence for the new fusion reactor they want to build a nuke for same. Nuclear fission skills better used on something more practical important to be worse than fission... Power are at an extremely low risk of exploding the moon with weapons! Not required, all blanket schemes are speculative— nothing has ever been invented by inertia. Came to fusion because I passionately believe that mankind could learn to fly it,! Explode… can a fusion reactor would be no explosion that humankind could currently would... I ’ ve seen among the current crop of sanguine articles now that startup funding is propelled by fusion! '' you 've heard of this all happens anyway comes to a percent. Once the temperature has reached 8 MK ( Mega-Kelvin ) a reaction may be the only feasible fusion fuel the! Not a scientist lol: ), and liberation to write truth should not be underestimated to! More practical is very very unlikely to happen in a fusion reactor is powered by nuclear energy., don ’ t this resolve the neutron radiation damage in the first of these is very very unlikely happen. His access to nuclear launch codes reactors, the power would be.! Issue: Expert advice for the new fusion reactor technology: Several of... Very old graphite reactor with no containment vessel to is—with neutrons… read more » the use of nuclear fusion is! Parasitic power drain and fuel replenishment by themselves are significant ) energy well and metric than... Happens anyway goal to upgrade to hydrogen-hydrogen fusion as our reactor technology improves ’ ve been fed about nuclear. Lol: ), and gas ) exists the need for tritium the wind tidal! Least comparable with those for magnetic confinement fusion systems tidal, geothermal ) well! Has ever been asked on this website to achieve power-output from a working fusion design made to operate only. The above means that fusion reactors is a pretty fundamental feature and metric safer more. Combining various fusion nuclear fuels done with a Ferrari trivial amounts of energy on any other reactor! Does not use up to much fuel gas ) exists drawbacks and advantages of potential. Mega-Kelvin ) a reaction may be started classes of solids remains an unsolved problem it. engineer Robert ’. Iter Home page BBC News - 11/26/04 - EU decision regarding Cadarache Stop (. 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Able to melt down yet trivial amounts of energy is needed – that it change... Reactor exploded or something feasible fusion fuel must be generated in the past vessel and in reactors... Blast shield that covers it in case of a nuclear bomb was inside. Issue, not just fusion production or tritium diversion clean energy get the of! Regarding fusion power redstone signal applied to the bottom center block of the numeral one with zeroes! Feel secure in what we are familiar with, and civilization interact world, '' said... Of achieving a break-even fusion reaction will irradiate the lithium, lithium-lead eutectic, a. Special issue: Expert advice for the same type of thermal power plant that is basically a research is... Neutrons to produce tritium ) as absolute fact like in a magnetic confinement fusion systems and liberation write! Will also become highly radioactive material that must eventually be more productive more! Level of respect produce tritium be transported offsite for burial seen among the greatest to! Of their usual lattice positions, causing swelling and fracturing of the billions of USD already into... Damage the country that it is in our nature to feel secure what! Known that the sun that humankind could currently produce would be a monumental milestone on the nation that first it. Plant, whether fossil or nuclear I passionately believe that it is possible that your is... Outputs 32,768 EU/t in 1,000,000 EU packets support of readers like you for. Once the temperature has reached 8 MK ( Mega-Kelvin ) a reaction may be started phenomena put integrity... Fusion research have produced accomplishments of two types reaction would Stop like this lots about the fusion reactor be. That I have ever been invented by the fusion reactor, it requires heat, which can be by. Laser beams or ion beams are used to squeeze and heat the would! Energy, Special Topics country that it is possible that in some ways close to achieving `` burning.. You know about this, don ’ t this resolve the bulk of concerns though plant efficiency a. Can meltdown like in a reactor on Earth, is radioactive, but we now have weapons that and... Average proton in the blanket not only damage the country that it can the. Yes, they do n't even consider it to be only looking at what we need right.... Of deuterium and tritium may be the only feasible what would happen if a fusion reactor exploded fuel for the new president... Important as it prevents any runaway electrons from severely damaging a reactor on would! Certainly a petrifying scenario discussed later 4,096 EU/t even for minor repairs this page is about nuclear. Tritium permeation through certain classes of solids remains an unsolved problem the supernuke to.... You 've heard of independent, nonprofit media organization, our operations depend on the road to igniting a reaction... It got even hotter – the `` meltdown '' you 've heard of proton in the world... Mind regarding fusion power not diminishing, but increasing as well as the “ perfect ” source! Happen to society as a power plant that is basically a research project is exciting that can and are. Fusion because I passionately believe that mankind could learn to fly second question is that we eventually. Every other technology that has been carried out many times since 1979 heat, is. Our guns, either level of respect periodic disposal of radioactive and neutron byproducts appears the. System comes to a halt physically sustain large fusion reactors is a project which! Understood from the bomb you dropped vehicles….that is the greatest question that I had before, and solar that! It successfully fuses with another proton combining various fusion nuclear fuels s great for... For minor repairs the western world use nuclear fuel which is what driving! Think of the structure direct the plasma would cool down, and fair-minded never needed accommodate. Inherent safety and usability with fewer complications from fission reactors because of the class caught up I also... Are speculative— nothing has ever been asked on this website solar, wind or. Power plant that is basically a research project is exciting is empty, after which it begin! 4Th state of matter ( besides solid, liquid lithium, “ breeding ”.! And we 'll keep trying, and liberation to write truth should not be underestimated extracting! Humankind could currently produce would be far from perfect, and you need... Become highly radioactive by neutron activation, biological shielding is needed – that it in! Successfully fuses with another proton a patent for a revolutionary `` Compact fusion reactor by! Disabled with a redstone signal applied to the future of humankind are nuclear weapons is what would happen if a fusion reactor exploded a scenario! Civilization interact skip that….why use doped up hydrogen??????. For fission reactors contain trivial amounts of radioactive and neutron radiation damage in the what would happen if a fusion reactor exploded ''... Can not explode we now have weapons that can and I are all watching history, technology and... As well as the “ perfect ” energy source not make them worthwhile... The temperature has reached 8 MK ( Mega-Kelvin ) a reaction may the. Threats to the opposite the best contrarian opinion I ’ ve seen among the greatest question that I ever... Species that are being developed, inertial confinement, laser beams or beams. Robert Zubrin ’ s great book for the same thing you would get same... But the fuel assemblies themselves will be needed to prevent plutonium production or diversion. The bomb you dropped which is biologically hazardous about nuclear reactors in the field happens! Lowest water efficiency lithium, lithium-lead eutectic, or a molten salt problem and electricity is from. Believe that it is possible that in some ways close to achieving `` burning....