4 ms·
Not right? Breeder reactors are not some sort of perpetual-motion device. They create energy, which can be used for lots of things including more reactions crea
by JoeAltmaier 2y ago
Not right? Breeder reactors are not some sort of perpetual-motion device. They create energy, which can be used for lots of things including more reactions creating tritium by a 'cheaper' route from lithium. Like we use petroleum to power drilling equipment to get more petroleum. The energy released is the part that makes it 'free'.
And isn't that 'four or five times' number, per reaction? Because deuterium and tritium are so much lighter than fissionable materials (by 10X) the energy per kg is truly 50X not 5X. Right?
- credit_guy 2y agoNo, the five times number is per weight, not per reaction. Per reaction, the fusion one Deuterium and one Tritium yields 17.6 MeV [1]. The atomic mass of the components is 5, so you get 3.5 MeV per one unit of atomic mass (also called a Dalton). Per reaction, fission produces between 190 and 200 MeV. Since the input is one nucleus of U-235 or Pu-239 and one neutron, the mass is either 236 or 240, so the yield is 0.8 MeV per Dalton. So the deuterium-tritium reaction is only 4.4 times more energetic than fission, per unit of mass. As for your first part, I didn't get what you were trying to say. > Breeder reactors are not some sort of perpetual-motion device. I don't think I implied they are, and I don't think anyone believes in perpetual-motion devices in 2024. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion#Criteria_and_candidates_for_terrestrial_reactions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion#Criteria_and_ca...