Comments on: Nuclear Fusion – a Long Shot? http://permaculture.org.au/2009/05/04/nuclear-fusion-a-long-shot/ Permaculture News, Commentary and Worldwide Projects. Mon, 21 May 2012 02:23:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: myu http://permaculture.org.au/2009/05/04/nuclear-fusion-a-long-shot/#comment-31919 myu Thu, 07 May 2009 14:08:20 +0000 http://permaculture.org.au/?p=1383#comment-31919 Current methods do produce radioactive waste, due to neutron emission as a result of the particular fuel mixes used in current reactors. Aneutronic fusion is much, much more difficult to achieve, let alone turn an energy profit on. Here's a wikipedia article on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneutronic_fusion All deuterium reactions will be producing significant (>1% of energy) neutrons, with the other fuel mixes being a far cry from the "infinitely abundant, harmless seawater" tagline which gets thrown around a lot. If fusion ever does get off the ground, it will be far from the pristine, simplified, ideal picture painted for PR purposes. I see the future of energy being less. The majority of energy used in first world countries is just waste, so when people bark about the "desperate need" for more energy, I get furious. Current methods do produce radioactive waste, due to neutron emission as a result of the particular fuel mixes used in current reactors. Aneutronic fusion is much, much more difficult to achieve, let alone turn an energy profit on. Here’s a wikipedia article on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneutronic_fusion

All deuterium reactions will be producing significant (>1% of energy) neutrons, with the other fuel mixes being a far cry from the “infinitely abundant, harmless seawater” tagline which gets thrown around a lot.

If fusion ever does get off the ground, it will be far from the pristine, simplified, ideal picture painted for PR purposes.

I see the future of energy being less. The majority of energy used in first world countries is just waste, so when people bark about the “desperate need” for more energy, I get furious.

]]> By: Drake http://permaculture.org.au/2009/05/04/nuclear-fusion-a-long-shot/#comment-31789 Drake Mon, 04 May 2009 22:45:13 +0000 http://permaculture.org.au/?p=1383#comment-31789 Fusion is all very interesting and worth spending money on but the benefits will be things that were not anticipated. There are already some more advanced fission reactors that will not be tried because of nuclear energy's bad reputation. It is possible to run a reactor harvest the decay products and recycle them back into the industry and run reactors virtually without waste. What has the fission industry done thus far but to produce lots of "waste" to be turned into plutonium and armor piercing depleted uranium metal? So while we could solve the world's problems even with present technology there are a determined group of energy companies and arms producers that need a few problems to make a buck. Coal is certainly more dangerous than nuclear energy. Coal ash even contains noteworthy concentrations of radioactive isotopes because of the volume of coal that is burned. Fusion is all very interesting and worth spending money on but the benefits will be things that were not anticipated. There are already some more advanced fission reactors that will not be tried because of nuclear energy’s bad reputation. It is possible to run a reactor harvest the decay products and recycle them back into the industry and run reactors virtually without waste. What has the fission industry done thus far but to produce lots of “waste” to be turned into plutonium and armor piercing depleted uranium metal? So while we could solve the world’s problems even with present technology there are a determined group of energy companies and arms producers that need a few problems to make a buck.
Coal is certainly more dangerous than nuclear energy. Coal ash even contains noteworthy concentrations of radioactive isotopes because of the volume of coal that is burned.

]]> By: Alex Russell http://permaculture.org.au/2009/05/04/nuclear-fusion-a-long-shot/#comment-31742 Alex Russell Sun, 03 May 2009 21:21:46 +0000 http://permaculture.org.au/?p=1383#comment-31742 No risk that I'm aware of of them "putting all their money on this one horse." Quite the reverse... I am far too frequently seeing nuclear fusion referred to as if it had actually been discredited, or was the province only of cranks - apparently because people have grown up with the line "fusion: your grandfather's energy of the future" being a safe laugh line. I really worry about us not being able to carry this long-range project all the way through. If and when this horse ever comes in, it'll make a disproportionate difference in our options and in the state of our trade-offs, even assuming that the full array of other energy sources have already come to fruition. We could use it. No risk that I’m aware of of them “putting all their money on this one horse.” Quite the reverse… I am far too frequently seeing nuclear fusion referred to as if it had actually been discredited, or was the province only of cranks – apparently because people have grown up with the line “fusion: your grandfather’s energy of the future” being a safe laugh line. I really worry about us not being able to carry this long-range project all the way through.

If and when this horse ever comes in, it’ll make a disproportionate difference in our options and in the state of our trade-offs, even assuming that the full array of other energy sources have already come to fruition. We could use it.

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