nuclear fusion for electrical energy

[murulidhara]

I have read that nuclear fusion can be used for power generation. In waht way it is superior to nuclear fission. Is it not hazardous and difficult to control?

[insane_alien]

nuclear fusion is superior because it pumps out more energy per kilogram of fuel used. it is also NOT as hazardous as a fission reactor as there are little to no radioactive materials involved and there is only a few minutes worth of fuel in the reactor at any one time. if it loses power it shuts down very quickly by itself.

 

its the control part that is why we don't have fusion yet. we do not have an adequate containment system. we can keep a fusion reactor going for a few seconds but after that the plasma loses stability and can damage the reactor.

 

once we have proper confienment technology then it will be perfectly safe.

[John Cuthber]

On the other hand, nuclear fission actually works.

To be fair so does fusion. It works fine in the lab where the fact that it takes more power than it generates doesn't matter. It works fine in H bombs and it works fine in the sun.

The process of fusion generates fast neutrons. The interaction of these with other materials (like the containment vessel) will generally render them radioactive. The idea that there is no radioactive waste from fusion is simply not true.

[insane_alien]

well, i meant the spent fuel is radioactive. and the radioactive parts of the reactor decay a lot faster than the spent fuel coming out a fission reactor.

 

also, there are some reactions that don't produce neutrons(though we'll need a lot more advanced technology to handle the temperatures. so a few years with the neutron producing reactions will be inevitable.)

[murulidhara]

Sincere thanks to all

 

Murulidhara

[insane_alien]

oops just noticed a mistake. i meant to say that the spent fuel is NOT radioactive.

[qwe)k]

what about the waste it produces, is the half life less?

[insane_alien]

the spent fuel is helium, non-radioactive.

 

the parts that become radioactive will have a shorter halflife and there be less of it as the reactor wall will only need replacing every few decades