Friday, January 31, 2020

Russian Scientists Reveal Plans for Fusion-Fission Reactor

Thorium has benefits compared with uranium reaction and has been endorsed by Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.In the reactor, plasma fusion generates neutrons that fuel subsequent fission.

It's a hybrid reactor, meaning it includes both fusion and fission, and it runs almost exclusively on thorium instead of more volatile uranium.

Gas-cooled reactors have always offered a way for reactors to make power using un-enriched, regular old uranium, making it more affordable and accessible to more countries.

A traditional nuclear reactor runs in critical state, but the hybrid thorium reactor instead operates in near-critical state.

A magnetic field inside the reactor holds the powerful cloud of ionized gaseous deuterium plasma, which is the fusion part of the fusion-fission reactor.

The term "Critical state" is just a technical one, and these reactors are all shored up by safety and containment, but experts say a subcritical reactor is inherently safer because it requires less containment in order to operate normally.

By combining a fusion reaction with a fission one, the reactor maximizes efficiency.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a30719060/thorium-fission-fusion-nuclear-reactor/

No comments: