Reply To: T-shirt designers unite and take over

[Tasmodevil44]

……all about energy balance

especially since you cannot turn neutrons directly into electricity. It needs a thermodynamic circle

I also mentioned in my post that the heavy fission products (which are positively charged nuclei) may come streaming out in a unidirectional beam just like the alpha particles……and undergo direct inductive conversion to electricity the same way……making it far more efficient than conventional fission reactors (and less waste for the same amount of energy). Most of the energy of heavy atom fission comes from the positively charged heavy fission byproducts……not from the neutrons. Upon fission, they repel away from each other with incredible force. And because they are massive, they equate into considerable energy if they too can be converted by direct induction. Did you read this part? You must not have completely read it all.

By far the biggest problem (like you and I both already stated before) is not really so much whether it would work or not for transmuting and “burning” thorium…… or the resulting energy balance…… so much as the radioactive problem even if it could:

any parts you take out will be high-level radioactive waste.

all about an attempt to “make watts, not rads”

You and I both are still in agreement on this one. Even if it could theoretically “burn” thorium, had an excellent energy balance, and helped to contribute more energy to facilitate a mixture of pB11 fusion as well (as I described), you would still have the really wicked rad waste problem to contend with.

The energy of the fission would come primarily from the heavy fission byproducts, not the neutrons. Instead of generating watts of power, the neutrons would be absorbed into the surrounding reactor walls…… and transmute everything else into a radioactive mennace……including the reactor itself. While producing substantially less radioactivity than a conventional fission reactor, it would still produce it nonetheless.

Not to mention the fact that the U-232 produced is a really wicked and nasty alpha emitter. If you were to accidentally inhale even the smallest microscopic particle of U-232 into your lungs……and it became permanently lodged there……you could develop lung cancer.

While I still think that such a thing may at least be theoretically possible…… (plasma may be energetic enough to overcome 90 protons. Especially if an energetic alpha occasionally collided with it.) ……is it very desirable or even something that you would really want to do?

Well, so much for a dense plasma focus that can be modified to safely transmute and “burn” hazardous thorium. Guess we’ll stick with trying to obtain a safer fusion ignition with p + B11 for now, folks.