[Axil]

Tasmodevil44 wrote: Yes, I have already been doing some research and reading – up on Thorium Power, based in Washington, D.C. They are working on fuel rods that can adapt thorium to already existing nuclear plants. There is also the LFTR (liquid flouride thorium reactor) specifically designed for thorium. When research on it was cancelled back in 1974, it was one of the biggest mistakes in nuclear research. Thorium can definitely be a second back – up alternative in the event things like focus fusion don’t pan – out for some reason (although I have pretty high confidence that focus fusion can work).

But as far as any attempt at hybrid fission/fusion in a DPF, I have done ruled – out and discounted the possibility that it might be able to assist pB11 fusion in getting it over the so – called “hump” to help it along. Such hybrid fission/fusion works well in the thermonuclear H – Bomb, but is incompatible with the DPF. But while researching the subject, I found this other bizarre kind of thorium fission to be rather academically interesting, but still impractical and useless.

I think what you have run into is “Low Energy Nuclear Reaction” (LENR). This is a proposed nuclear process that is put forward to explain “Cold Fusion”. In short, under the right conditions LENR says that a hydrogen atom can turn into a neutron.

If this reaction exists, it will be very transformative of nuclear physics and is therefore soundly rejected and feared by the nuclear and high energy physics communities.

However, as you have pointed out, there are many experimental results that confirm that something can transmute all types of elements and their isotopes to other elements; and amazingly, this can be done without any release of neutrons or radiation.

For example, cavitation and/or electric arc discharge in a liquid can transmute nuclear waste into non radioactive isotopes in a short timeframe; hours or days.

A number of patens have already been developed to use this as of yet not understood process to detoxify nuclear waste.

This process could undercut the attractiveness of boron fusion as an energy production process and will therefore be soundly rejected and feared by this focus fusion community; I understand, it is only human.

Remember, that when thorium fissions, it produces about 200 Mev per atom and 800 MeV total per reaction; and when boron fusions, it produces only about 3 Mev per reaction.

Like all hot fusion processes, focus fusion will destroy its “first wall” and structural material in short order from its emissions of both high energy alpha particles and high energy electrons causing material erosion from its plasma. Solid matter cannot withstand fusion over time. In other words, unless the focus fusion reactor is reengineered it will not last very long.

[Axil]

AaronB wrote:

To leave planet Earth an escape velocity of 11.2 km/s is required, that escape velocity for Earth (to escape its “gravity well”) is about 25,000 mph (or 36, 700 ft per second).

It is impossible to achieve that velocity passing through the lower levels of the earth’s atmosphere because of the fictional heat generated by passage through that dense layer of air beginning at 15,000 feet elevation that your plan would entail. That fictional heating would vaporize all known materials.

The consequence is that the waste package would vaporize and radioactive vapor would contaminant Colombia and the other surrounding nations. I am sorry to have disabused you of your fantasy.

I anticipated a bit of material would be lost from the nose cone. The whole capsule would be made of an encased uranium rod and a ceramic nose cone that would be very pointy and long, allowing several inches to burn away as it exited the atmosphere. Since uranium is so dense and heavy, the rod wouldn’t have to be very big to weigh 500 lbs. The whole thing would be probably 25 ft. long and 1 ft. in diameter, and a good portion of the length would be the nose cone. Also, there would be a lot of testing with non-hazardous materials before uranium was used. I’m not saying that this would be completely easy to do, but engineers are smart. If given the challenge and resources, they could come up with a way to make it work. It could also open up a whole new level of access to space.

People resist waste road and rail transport in indestructible casts and you want to use a space vehicle. Get real!

[Axil]

JimmyT wrote: An interesting factoid is that the earth with its orbital velocity is more than half way out of the sun’s gravitational well. (Actually the figure is closer to 98%) That means that once you are out of the earth’s gravitational well, you would have to apply less acceleration (about 50 times less) to an object to eject it from the solar system then to plunge it into the sun.

I think that fourth generation molten salt reactors are a better way to dispose of long term nuclear waste anyway. They eliminate them by bombarding the wastes with neutrons. This causes them to decay into short lived isotopes and in the process of doing so they serve as part of the fuel.

One of the chief expenses of running nuclear fission reactors is the fabrication of the fuel rod Assemblies. This is a very labor intensive operation and one which is entirely eliminated in this type of reactor.

Also the radioactive fuel/salt mixture is not pressurized, so they have a safety advantage.

We could discuss many of the design details of this type of reactor, but I’m not sure that this is the appropriate venue.

You are a very wise man.

[Axil]

Brian H wrote:

Radioactive waste is a big problem, but I have a possible solution. I think we could install big accelerator tracks on the sides of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. Then we take 500 lb. capsules of radioactive waste and shoot them into the sun. We could also shoot things into other parts of the solar system as the earth turns. It would be easy enought to do the timing, and a little bit of directional control while still in the atmosphere could do most of the course correcting. Each day, you could probably shoot 10,000 lbs. into the sun. That’s only 20 shots, which should be easy to do in 10 minutes. The technology is the same as the high speed roller coaster rides, only the track would be two miles in length. When it wasn’t shooting payloads into space, it could shoot people into the stratosphere on suborbital joyrides. Colombia could make a fortune getting rid of other countries’ waste, and get a booming tourist industry as well.

To leave planet Earth an escape velocity of 11.2 km/s is required, that escape velocity for Earth (to escape its “gravity well”) is about 25,000 mph (or 36, 700 ft per second).

It is impossible to achieve that velocity passing through the lower levels of the earth’s atmosphere because of the fictional heat generated by passage through that dense layer of air beginning at 15,000 feet elevation that your plan would entail. That fictional heating would vaporize all known materials.

The consequence is that the waste package would vaporize and radioactive vapor would contaminant Colombia and the other surrounding nations. I am sorry to have disabused you of your fantasy.

True, but the heating is not “fictional” it’s quite real. Frictional, even! 😆

And you can’t “contaminant” anything, though you can “contaminate” it. (The latter term is called a “verb”, whereas contaminant is an example of a “noun”.) YCLIU. 😛

I hear you. I will be more careful with my spelling. Do you hear me? Be more careful with your engineering!

[Axil]

Lerner wrote: I assume you are talking about liquid lithium? It’s a possiblity if helium turns out to be inadequate as a coolant, but it is very corrosive and I would think any lithium colling system will cost a lot more than a helium system.

Sorry for not giving you the web reference right off. Here it is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe

Also see

http://www.cheresources.com/htpipes.shtml

[Axil]

Glenn Millam wrote: Will this be much better than the beryllium that has already been written about on the site in stopping anode erosion caused by x-rays? If so, this would be great, for safety sake as well, as beryllium isn’t exactly a nice material in powdered or aerosol form (assuming that some erosion will occur to any anode over time). In fact, it would make quite a bad waste product in the replacement of anodes.

This post is a design suggestion for a possible improvement to the focus fusion reactor. The erosion rate of the beryllium central electrode is a limiting factor in the availability of the reactor. The reactor design should minimize frequent electrode replacement. One way to slow that erosion in the central electrode is to configure it so that the walls of the central electrode forms a heat pipe using lithium to remove heat from the hot plasma generation section at the tip of the electrode to a cold heat sink at the rear of the reactor. Such a lithium heat pipe has the heat conductivity of 1000 times that of pure copper and can remove heat at a rate of 30 kilowatts per square centimeter. Since Lithium is the most x-ray transparent solid element, it will not interfere with the x ray dynamics of the reactor. This suggestion will also function for copper electrodes.

For heat pipe background see the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe

Also see

http://www.cheresources.com/htpipes.shtml

I hope this is the right thread for this post.

[Axil]

This post is a design suggestion for a possible improvement to the focus fusion reactor. The erosion rate of the beryllium central electrode is a limiting factor in the availability of the reactor. The reactor design should minimize frequent electrode replacement. One way to slow that erosion in the central electrode is to configure it so that the walls of the central electrode forms a heat pipe using lithium to remove heat from the hot plasma generation section at the tip of the electrode to a cold heat sink at the rear of the reactor. Such a lithium heat pipe has the heat conductivity of 1000 times that of pure copper and can remove heat at a rate of 30 kilowatts per square centimeter. Since Lithium is the most x-ray transparent solid element, it will not interfere with the x ray dynamics of the reactor. This suggestion will also function for copper electrodes.

[Axil]

AaronB wrote: Radioactive waste is a big problem, but I have a possible solution. I think we could install big accelerator tracks on the sides of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. Then we take 500 lb. capsules of radioactive waste and shoot them into the sun. We could also shoot things into other parts of the solar system as the earth turns. It would be easy enought to do the timing, and a little bit of directional control while still in the atmosphere could do most of the course correcting. Each day, you could probably shoot 10,000 lbs. into the sun. That’s only 20 shots, which should be easy to do in 10 minutes. The technology is the same as the high speed roller coaster rides, only the track would be two miles in length. When it wasn’t shooting payloads into space, it could shoot people into the stratosphere on suborbital joyrides. Colombia could make a fortune getting rid of other countries’ waste, and get a booming tourist industry as well.

To leave planet Earth an escape velocity of 11.2 km/s is required, that escape velocity for Earth (to escape its “gravity well”) is about 25,000 mph (or 36, 700 ft per second).

It is impossible to achieve that velocity passing through the lower levels of the earth’s atmosphere because of the fictional heat generated by passage through that dense layer of air beginning at 15,000 feet elevation that your plan would entail. That fictional heating would vaporize all known materials.

The consequence is that the waste package would vaporize and radioactive vapor would contaminant Colombia and the other surrounding nations. I am sorry to have disabused you of your fantasy.

[Axil]

Nuclear waste and weapons material is a major problem for the US as well as many other countries throughout the world. Since Yucca mountain is not a viable solution and in fact is dangerous and alternative solution is required.

The US has set aside 20 billon dollars for such a solution. LIFE is an attempt at such a solution and is among other approaches.

I think a fusor hybrid that is modeled on LIFE is the best approach to clean up the nuclear mess. It would be a disservice to humanity to let petty competition and a fear of the neutron deny the world of an elegant and effective way of nuclear waste disposal.

[Axil]

Reference:

https://lasers.llnl.gov/missions/energy_for_the_future/life/

LIFE, an acronym for Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy, is an advanced energy concept under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Based on physics and technology developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), LIFE has the potential to meet future worldwide energy needs in a safe, sustainable manner without carbon dioxide emissions.

The laser inertial fusion device that will be uses in this reactor produces 10e19 neutrons/second.

Your current device when fusing d-t produces 10e13 neutrons/second. If you increase the product of this pulse rate and any performance increase to 10e6, you are equal in performance to the inertial confinement laser. The size of your system is ideal for a fusor/reactor hybrid. If you can approach this neutron fluence level, this as well as other reactor hybrids configurations are feasible. Moderator, are you interested in exploring this alterative technology for your system?

[Author]

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