4 ms·
The overabundance of neutrons cause the beryllium to become radioactive waste, thus eliminating a supposed major benefit of fusion.
by aeternum 4y ago
The overabundance of neutrons cause the beryllium to become radioactive waste, thus eliminating a supposed major benefit of fusion.
- hinkley 4y agoWell the cladding and the lithium for sure. The wikipedia page on beryllium seems to think it breaks down into 2 alpha particles and some neutrons. But then I'm finding that the naysayers are pointing out that nuclear physics is a big statistics game and you don't get to cherry-pick which reactions happen. Any one that can happen does and you have to be able to mop up/separate/repair the consequences of each. Is Wikipedia right about beryllium, or do you know of other reactions that render it nastier than some ionized helium?
- Schroedingersat 4y agoPure beryllium (few enough trace contaminants to not activate) is very very very very expensive. And you need a lot. And it's pretty nasty on its own even compared to irradiated steel or similar. Highly experienced nuclear engineers need regular safe handling training because it's so toxic.