The Aneutronic fusion article on wikipedia indicated that for Boron fusion, this undesirable reaction occurs at >0.1%

B-11 + alpha -> N-14 + n

and that the neutron will carry a large fraction of the alpha energy. seems they’re quoting
Heindler and Kernbichler, Proc. 5th Intl. Conf. on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems, 1989, pp. 177-82.

is this as bad a problem as they seem to suggest?

vansig - 08 February 2010 07:20 PM

The Aneutronic fusion article on wikipedia indicated that for Boron fusion, this undesirable reaction occurs at >0.1%

B-11 + alpha -> N-14 + n

and that the neutron will carry a large fraction of the alpha energy. seems they’re quoting
Heindler and Kernbichler, Proc. 5th Intl. Conf. on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems, 1989, pp. 177-82.

is this as bad a problem as they seem to suggest?

No, it’s just a nuisance problem that we work around by shielding the reactor with a 1 meter water jacket covered by 10 cm of boron, covered by 2 cm of lead or boronated polyethylene. The actual reactor is incredibly small and light compared to the shielding and rest of the support equipment. That said, the lower we can get that ratio, the less gross energy we’re going to lose through it.