[JRandall]

So, the main reaction itself is expected to be aneutronic. I say expected to be, because I do not know if anyone has actually caused this reaction to happen in the real world.

Could someone please tell me if anyone has actually achieved boron-hydrogen fusion in the laboratory?

However, it is admitted that the side reactions WILL produce “slow” neutrons. Much like in chemistry, obviously everything possible will be done to reduce unwanted side reactions. That still leaves FF generating radioactivity, though. I understand that this radioactivity is expected to be very short-lived, but the fact of its presence will most likely cause it to have to be regulated in some way. No big deal, really: lots of businesses deal with regulation and still operate effectively.

My question is whether or not it is fair to call the device “aneutronic” under these circumstances.

Don’t get me wrong: I believe in the project and support it wholeheartedly. I certainly do my part to spread word-of-mouth about it. But I, personally, have stopped characterizing it to my friends as aneutronic, saying instead that it is expected to produce several orders of magnitude less radioactivity, and that its waste products will have half-lives measured in seconds rather than millenia. 😉 This seems fair to me, and also more accurate. I can certainly point to lots of figures suggesting that FF is obviously better than our current policy of dumping gigatons of carbon into the air, and also safer in regards to waste than traditional fission reactors OR the expected waste stream from a tokamak or a spheromak. (if nothing else, the reactor vessel of a traditional fusion plant is expected to become hopelessly contaminated after a period of some decades, and must be disposed of just like a fission reactor.) FF doesn’t have this problem.

Final question, perhaps not related to this thread (I will gladly move it on request, or not object if the admin moves it): has anyone thought of doing (or actually done) a DT reaction, or even a plain old hydrogen-hydrogen reaction inside an FF device? It seems to me that an FF device could reach 100 million degrees or thereabouts much more easily than a tokamak or spheromak, and in tests I believe the device has already demonstrated this capacity. Of course it would be radioactive as all heck, but it seems to me that this would be a more sensible route for the HH and DT fans out there than any of the mainstream alternatives. I mean, these people have already decided that they can live with the radioactivity so why not produce it in a more cheap and effective manner?

Thank you for your attention.

-Jay

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