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| Thread ID: 150115 | 2021-09-09 10:39:00 | New superconducting magnet breaks magnetic field strength records | zqwerty (97) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1480407 | 2021-09-09 10:39:00 | New superconducting magnet breaks magnetic field strength records, paving the way for fusion energy: We've heard it all before but this looks promising: phys.org If we can make reliable fusion reactors economically then our future looks a lot brighter. I've been following the development of fusion reactors for 40 years and today, 9th September 2021, I feel slightly more optimistic than ever before. |
zqwerty (97) | ||
| 1480408 | 2021-09-09 19:43:00 | Same here, have you checked out Thorium reactors? They sound interesting. Trouble is same as fusion... developing it commercially. Once they make the breakthrough we are a lot better off. Ken |
kenj (9738) | ||
| 1480409 | 2021-09-09 23:18:00 | Current test fusion reactors take so much energy to run , I doubt they will get much excess energy back even when they crack it . They may simply be uneconomic . Thorium reactors were never originally developed because they cant produce the Plutonium needed for Nuke Bombs . Thorium Reactors do still produce dangerous nuclear waste , thats something many counties are trying to move away from . www.theguardian.com "Thorium cannot in itself power a reactor; unlike natural uranium, it does not contain enough fissile material to initiate a nuclear chain reaction. As a result it must first be bombarded with neutrons to produce the highly radioactive isotope uranium-233 – 'so these are really U-233 reactors" "This isotope is more hazardous than the U-235 used in conventional reactors, he adds, because it produces U-232 as a side effect (half life: 160,000 years), on top of familiar fission by-products such as technetium-99 (half life: up to 300,000 years) and iodine-129 (half life: 15.7 million years).Add in actinides such as protactinium-231 (half life: 33,000 years) and it soon becomes apparent that thorium's superficial cleanliness will still depend on digging some pretty deep holes to bury the highly radioactive waste. " |
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