Freedom from fission

[Jenda]

No they don't. Breeder reactors provide fuel for other fission based reactors. Fusion reactors don't use plutonium or enriched uramiun - they use light molecules, like hydrogen and helium.

If you hadn't, I would've.
Hydrogen-> Helium ->Beryllium->Oxygen->Fe(Iron), I think they taught us to be the Sun's fusion chain. Wouldn't it be beautiful if our hydrogen and helium powered plants would produce pure IRON as waste???

[Laukev7]

If you hadn't, I would've.
Hydrogen-> Helium ->Beryllium->Oxygen->Fe(Iron), I think they taught us to be the Sun's fusion chain. Wouldn't it be beautiful if our hydrogen and helium powered plants would produce pure IRON as waste???

Ah, but we have a problem here. To produce hydrogen, you need either water or hydrocarbons. What if all the water gets turned into iron?

[Jenda]

Ah, but we have a problem here. To produce hydrogen, you need either water or hydrocarbons. What if all the water gets turned into iron?

 Not probable. And there's plenty of sources. Acids, Calcite etc... not just water (I'm thinking: many H composites)
And remember E=mc^2? One kilogram of Hydrogen is plenty of energy!!! (I know. We do not transform the H into energy...)

[worker201]

In reality, we are not transforming anything into energy.  We are releasing the nuclear binding energy.  Because of the way binding energy works, there are 2 ways - break apart heavy items, or smash together light items.  A quick glance at a graph of binding energy will show you exactly why fusion releases more energy than fission.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_energy

[Aloone_Jonez]

Either way the mass of the components after the reaction is less than it was before - the lost mass is converted to energy.

I woudn't worry about using hydrogen from water as the amount of water on the planet has increased since humans have been burning hydrocarbon fossil fuels. Using hydrogen from water will release oxygen which will help compensate for the oxygen lost in carbon dioxide and deforrestation.

If you hadn't, I would've.
Hydrogen-> Helium ->Beryllium->Oxygen->Fe(Iron), I think they taught us to be the Sun's fusion chain. Wouldn't it be beautiful if our hydrogen and helium powered plants would produce pure IRON as waste???

I don't know, aren't other elements produced as well, including gold, but there again aren't some radioactive isotopes produced as well?

[skyman8081]

Some forms of fusion, such as tritium + deuterium will make the containment vessel mildly radioactive.

Deuterium + Deuterium fusion and H + H is clean.

[worker201]

Either way the mass of the components after the reaction is less than it was before - the lost mass is converted to energy.

NOT true. Fission and fusion do not result in lost mass.  In fusion, the atoms are combined to produce a heavier atom, and a few extra photons.  In fission, the atoms are broken into pieces, and a few alpha particles.  Either way, the equations balance, and all protons, neutrons, and electrons are accounted for.  The output is the binding energy.

[Aloone_Jonez]

Ok I think I kind of get this now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_energy

Because a bound system is at a lower energy level, its mass must be less than its unbound constituents. Nuclear binding energy can be computed from the difference in mass of a nucleus, and the sum of the mass of the neutrons and protons that make up the nucleus. Once this mass difference (also called the mass defect) is known, Einstein's formula (E = mc

[hm_murdock]

I'm with the anti-nuclear people. I believe that it's a good idea to continue to use fossil fuels to destroy the atmosphere, and bring us closer to a harmful oil crash. At least I'll be safe on the road in my Hummer 2 when the riots over gasoline start, and I'll be able to convert all the rubber parts on it into a gas mask to wear when the air is unbreathable.

GO WEST COAST TREEHUGGERS!

[hm_murdock]

I had another thought...

Burning fossil fuels creates Smaug.

Smaug burns peasants, women, houses, and villages. If this happens, Bilbo has to talk to that damnable bird to go wake Bard up. NOBODY WANTS THIS! I mean, do YOU?!?!

JIMMY JAMES FOR THE ANTI-SMAUG FOUNDATION.

[hm_murdock]

Oh yeah... fusion rocks. It's awesome to have THE SUN around.

Fusion makes awesome bombs.

[worker201]

I had another thought...

Burning fossil fuels creates Smaug.

Actually, according to all of the Tolkien scholars I have read (1), a gross accumulation of wealth is what creates Smaug.  Smaug came down from the north because the riches of the dwarfs tempted him.  Kinda like Hrothgar's golden hall in "Beowulf", it attracts the envy and hate of a monster.

(1) - nerd alert!

[Kintaro]

What the hell is Smaug?

[worker201]

Smaug is the evil dragon from Tolkien's "The Hobbit"

[Kintaro]

Ah! Now it all makes sense.