4 ms·
What part of the reactor degrades so quickly? Can't it be replaced continuously? Why isn't the shielding done with some non-degradable matter, like water or som
by darkmighty 12y ago
What part of the reactor degrades so quickly? Can't it be replaced continuously? Why isn't the shielding done with some non-degradable matter, like water or some oil?
- db48x 12y agoIf the shielding is made of matter, then the nuclei of the atoms in that matter will absorb neutrons and become radioactive. Clearly the solution is to make it out of the many materials which are not composed of matter.
- regularfry 12y agoAs an example of the problem, anything made of metal will become brittle. For why this might be a problem, take a look at what's in the middle of the ITER toroid: you've got a stack of magnetic coils, which have to be physically braced against a colossal magnetic repulsion by a great big pre-stressed metal core. I'm sure someone at ITER has done the maths and figured out how long that core can last under operation before it becomes too brittle to keep the coils together, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was one of the reasons why ITER isn't designed for long-term power generation.