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Isn't Helion claiming they can achieve non-DT fusion in a few years? That seems extremely suspect to me - as far as I know, non-DT fusion has barely ever been s
by simiones 4y ago
Isn't Helion claiming they can achieve non-DT fusion in a few years? That seems extremely suspect to me - as far as I know, non-DT fusion has barely ever been seen in a lab.
- pfdietz 4y agoIt's a stretch, but their approach is clever and doesn't seem impossible to me.
- ncmncm 4y agoApparently even Helion's planned "aneutronic" gadgets produce orders of magnitude more hot neutrons than a fission reactor. All that could make that tolerable is that a 2MW package just produces a lot less of everything than a 2GW (or 20GW) monstrosity.
- pfdietz 4y agoYes, they do. An important point, though, is that the neutrons from DD fusion are much less energetic than those from DT fusion. This means they (like fission neutrons) are largely below the threshold where (n,alpha) and (n,2n) reactions occur, which eases the radiation damage problem.
- pfdietz 4y agoMaybe one order of magnitude more.