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> And of course mining for lithium as a fuel is still necessary, so you should perhaps say "no additional mining" or something. True, but the quantity of lithi
by rnhmjoj 6y ago
> And of course mining for lithium as a fuel is still necessary, so you should perhaps say "no additional mining" or something.
True, but the quantity of lithium required to breed tritium for power generation is ridiculously low. Operating a DEMO-like reactor for 30 years would consume 2 tons of lithium, which is nothing compared to the annual consumption for battery manufacturing (around 30000 tons).
- pfdietz 6y agoThe blanket of DEMO, if using PbLi eutectic, would require 52 tonnes of 6Li. In addition to the raw lithium itself, building even a single reactor like DEMO would require maturing a new 6Li separation technology (the old one caused unacceptable mercury pollution) and industrializing it. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092037961930835X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092037961...