I suggest that friends of nuclear power start up this movement to fight the evil ignorant mass hysteria that permeates the world today.

But first of all, I have to work out what to do.

Of course, it will be completely independant of Bad Astronomy.

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Freedom For Fission A breath of fresh Iodine-131

First, I think we should debate anti-Cassini people like the moon hoaxers. Perhaps we could start a newsletter. Here's the first one:

FREEDOM FOR FISSION NEWSLETTER #1:

Nuclear power is good.

The title is kind of discriminatory. What about fusion?

<Edit>

Oh yeah, nuclear power is good.

</Edit>

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

I can't imagine what objections environmentalists could possibly have to nuclear fusion power.

Well they have them. They're complaining that the experimental reactor that is going to be built (can't remember the name...) could be built in Canada. They think it's somehow bad for the environment and would release radiation. :roll:

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

HOW? HOW COULD A NUCLEAR FUSION REACTOR POSSIBLY DO ANY HARM?

Boy, am I getting fed up with these guys.

You are?!? I live in the same country as them!!! GGGRRRRRR!!!

Sorry. They tick me off.

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

But fusion reactors would need to use seawater as fuel. Think about the fish! Imagine you're a poor little clownfish minding your own business and all of a sudden you're sucked into some tube and splatted against a filtering screen until the life is sucked out of you. How can you even suggest that fusion reactors are harmless? And don't think you're going to get out of it by shipping the whole human race to Mars. There could be Martian Bacteria you know ... and they have rights too! You humans ... nothing but a bunch of invaders terrorizing poor helpless life on Earth, taking your claws and ripping them into the flesh of otherwise peaceful nature.

(Here's hoping the intentional irony put into that last part is not wasted).

Don't worry, it wasn't lost.

Maybe we should start by explaining how fission and fission reactors actually work. Start with the basics, you know?

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

Supreme,

I think that explaining how each works is a excellent idea. My question would be were do you store the waste products? How long does it have to be stored until it is no longer a danger?

What kind of waste is generated by a Fusion reactor? The same as a Fission?

Keep up the good work =D>

Many forms of Fusion power (Deuterium - Deuterium and Deuterium - Tritum for example) do release radiation. Not in the form of radioactive waste like fission but just as neutrons.

This means the core of the reactor will become radioactive itself as it absorbs the neutrons. But all things considered it's like not using coal power because fire scares very young kids.


Anyways, I'll join the Freedom for Fission group, but I want to be in charge of the "Why we need a lunar outpost/colony now" and "Why Helium-3 is your friend" debates

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People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

orion11349:

The United States government has decided that all nuclear waste should be stored at the Yucca Mountain storage facility. They'll bury it under the mountain until it is no longer radioactive. The time it takes for materials to become non-radioactive varies. The half-lives of common radioactive materials are as follows:

Beryllium 2,700,000 years
Calcium 100,000 years
Cesium-137 half life - 30 years
Cesium-135 2,000,000 years
Rubidium 47,000,000,000 years
Palladium 7,000,000 years
iodine-129 17,200,000 years
plutonium-239 half life - 24,390 years
strontium-89 53 days
strontium-90 28 years
tin-126 100,000 years
uranium-235 713,000,000 years
uranium-238 4,510,000,000 years

Half-life is the time it takes for half of the substance to decay. For example, if you have a substance with a half-life of 1 day, half of it would be gone in 24 hours. 24 hours later half of the remaining substance would have decayed and so on.

Also, I'm fairly certain that fusion reactors do not produce waste in vast quantities, and it is not of the same kind as fission reactors.

Keep in mind, though, that I'm no expert. :wink:

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

Aren't the byproducts of fusion basically water?

I am all for fusion, but I do have some reservations about fission. Let me explain. When I was in HS most of my science projects were about nuclear fission, so I know a little bit. The waste of fission is a big problem and I am not satisfied that we know how to dispose of it properly. Then, there seems to be so many problems with the reactors and containment buildings. I believe the science is good but what can you expect when it is the lowest bidder who builds the facilities? Did you ever see The China Syndrome?

How about sending nuclear waste into the sun? Is it feasible? Safe?

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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." Carl Sagan

As I said, I'm no expert. I really don't know.

Also, sending nuclear waste into the sun would be safe, but launching it might not be. There is a lot of waste and it would require a lot of launches to get it all up. Statistically, something is likely to go wrong with the rocket. Not a good thing.

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

The byproducts of fusion can range from tritium (hydrogen-3) to helium and upwards past Lithium depending on the fuel used.

Water is not a by product since your using helium and hydrogen as your main fuels.

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People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

Isn't the tritium used in furter reactions? Like a breeder reactor? (Bad analogy, but it gets the job done...)

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

No, tritium is the end product of the breeder reactors. Tritium is radioactive with a short half-life and is not readily available in nature.

I believe (as in too lazy to look it up) that Lithium-6 (might be 8, but I think it's 6) is used as a breeder fuel to create tritium. Could be wrong though.

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People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

Arrgh, I have forgotten soooo much. Where did I come up with the water thing? I know better. #-o

So tritium is "made" from lithium and deuterium from water. Fuse them together and you get helium and neutrinos and some other stuff.

Got it! 8)

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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." Carl Sagan

Wait, wait. I was asking if the tritium created in fusion reactors is used to further fusion. I may have muddled the question with that awful breeder reactor analogy. Sorry. ops:

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

That and spelling further "furter", I thought you might have meant father in the breeder reactor.

But no, the tritium is not used to further fusion. The tritium is fused with deuturium and out pops a helium atom (he4), a free neutron (bad = radiation) and some energy (17.6 MeV).

To "make" the tritum, you irradiate lithium-6 with slow neutrons and out pops helium, tritum and 4.8 MeV. You can also use the more common Lithium-7 and bombard it with fast neutrons, that gives you helium, tritium and a slow electron.

More Information

Hmm, with all the information I keep having to look up on nuclear fusion and releated topics for all my posts, maybe I should consider switching my major over to nuclear physics. Maybe then I'll get around to graduating

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People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

Ah ha! I get it now, thanks a lot. Sorry about that confusing post, I was a bit distracted. I really need to get a book about all of this... :wink:

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?