Homely Scientist

Nuclear power gets a seriously bad rap. With core meltdowns, radiation, and waste toxic for millennia you can understand why. The other side of the coin is that nuclear energy doesn’t product CO₂ and is pretty darn efficient. Of course we’re talking about power generation based on nuclear fission. That is the same stuff as the first atomic bombs. Fission splits atoms (usually enriched U₂₃₆) to release energy. Problem is the radiation and waste. Now nuclear fusion is a different beast. That’s the stuff of modern nuclear weapons (thermonuclear to be exact). It fuses hydrogen atoms to make helium and release a ton of energy. Problem with fusion is keeping it going, controlling the chain reaction as is done in fission reactors. Lots of research is being done on fusion, and not just to blow stuff up. UC Irvine has just received funding for research on a fusion reactor:

The company, which grew out of the University of California Irvine, says its advanced plasma fusion technologies could be used to generate electricity as well as eliminate waste from nuclear power plants. A plant based on its technology would cost less than a conventional nuclear plant. Tri Alpha was founded in 1998 and has raised funds in the past.

Tri Alpha is working on a generator in which hydrogen chases boron, according to literature from UC Irvine. These atoms then form a helium atom, which is placed in a particle accelerator. Slowing down the helium generates electricity.
Source: CNET

I read an article over the weekend, which I have to find online, that says despite the fact that we want to use solar energy and wind energy for power generation, we just can’t generate enough to meet our current demand. There is a call from some environmentalists to promote nuclear energy again. Good idea?

Tags: nuclear fusion, nuclear fission, nuclear energy

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