Reply To: Repowering the electric utility industry

[Lerner]

Yes, the two listed by Joe are the only ones that seem at all relevent. Both are of importance. The first one produces neutrons that are low energy, but must be shielded against. (Free neutrons of any energy are not good for organisms.) You need about a meter of shielding, which does not make a very big ball but is too large and heavy for a car. (Electric cars could re-charge at FF stations, however.) Typical design whould be an inner core of either water or plastic, followed by a layer of B-10 to absorb the slowed-down neutrons, plus a thin layer of lead to take care of the gamma ragys produced as the neutrons collide with hydorgen inthe water. The second reaction produces the exteremly short lived C11. Because of the low energy of the neutrons, activation is very very low with the materials they encounter inside the shielding. That is why we won’t have rad waste. I should add that small size helps. For example, for basic physical reasons, you can make a small vacuum chamber totally earthquake-proof, so you can’t release C11. But you can’t do that with a much larger vessel, as in building-sized reactors.