4 ms·
Couldn't one use, say, FLiNaK instead of FLiBe? Sodium and potassium are pretty abundant. That of course leaves the problem of needing relatively large amount
by jabl 8y ago
Couldn't one use, say, FLiNaK instead of FLiBe?
Sodium and potassium are pretty abundant.
That of course leaves the problem of needing relatively large amounts of 6Li, but that's something one has to live with as long as one wants DT fusion, I guess. And it seems this is more with building up the enrichment capacity rather than some fundamental geological limits.
- pfdietz 8y agoBeryllium is needed for neutron multiplication. The 5th neutron in 9Be is the most weakly bound neutron in any stable isotope, with a binding energy of just 1.6 MeV. It might be possible to use lead for neutron multiplication (it has a nice high cross section for (n,2n) reactions above 8 MeV), but it would not moderate the neutrons much, and 6Li breeds best off thermal neutrons. So the blanket and reactor would have to be bigger.