3 ms·
> There is a reason: the main purpose of the tokamak is a jobs creation program for high-neutron-flux physicists, to maintain a population to draw upon for weap
by the8472 8y ago
> There is a reason: the main purpose of the tokamak is a jobs creation program for high-neutron-flux physicists, to maintain a population to draw upon for weapons work.
No, that is completely misleading. The reason is that pB fusion requires 10 times higher plasma temperatures which are a much bigger problem then some neutron irradiation.
Neutron irradiation problem can be managed by using materials that don't generate long-lived isotopes on neutron capture and occasionally replacing the embrittled materials. Which are orthogonal solutions to solutions required for the already-difficult plasma containment for D-T fusion.
- ncmncm 8y agoTranslating activation energy, via required relative particle collision speeds, to crazy plasma temperature is a favorite rhetorical device of tokamak promoters. Those who know what they are talking about know that their brethren at LHC routinely achieve collision "temperatures" approaching 10^17 K. (That would be 100 million-billion degrees, or 10+ billion times as "hot" as hoped for a tokamak, if it actually mattered.) Another way to say "embrittled materials" is "the reactor". And "orthogonal" here means that completely solving plasma confinement would not help at all with the problem that turning it on destroys your power station in a few short months. But none of this addresses the statement quoted at all.