Le Challenge Atomique De Frogges
You may wish to take comfort, Skipper, in the fact that no one has reached the “break-even point” where more energy is produced by the fusion reaction than is put into it.
And as far as radiation produced, nearly every fusion reaction emits merely alpha particles...which can be stopped by PAPER!I’ll believe it when I see it.
I’m with Macker on this one. For the sake of science, I wish them well, but I will not be entirely displeased if this turns out to be a ten-billion boondoggle.
Memories of the “ Super Conducting Super Collider “ comes to mind. Boy howdee what a land snatch that was. Last i heard it is now just a big hole in the ground and no one is sure what to do with it. LOL.
Posted by imp
06/28/2005 at 09:26 AM
I can think of several appealing ways to fill that hole. No shortage of material we are better rid of, after all....heh-heh-heh!
By the way, I know this is off topic, but I need a recommendation on the best single history and/or documentary book dealing with Route 66. All suggestions are welcome. Many thanks!
Not to nitpick, but fusion is the joining of hydrogen to form helium. Usually it is hydrogen isotopes (deuterium/tritium). Incredible heat has to be added to get this reaction. As I understand it, fusion requires fission to generate that heat, so it probably still won’t be that “clean”.
On a more interesting note, the liberals are effectively blocking some of the US nuke fleet from docking in certain US ports, but their idols - Les French - have been out nuke producing the US for years.
Our environuts are more liberal than the french!
Mon Dieu!
Hmmm ...
I don’t recall anyone coming up with a containment for this. Last I heard, the power to run a containment was more than 10 Xs the power of 8 to do so. I guess the French MIGHT have figured that little problem out ... but aren’t they the same folks who didn’t get around to putting a differential in their cars until ... oh ... say ... 1970? CITROEN.
Posted by Steel Turman
06/28/2005 at 12:31 PM
I think the french plan to implement a fusion reactor is wait for summer vacation and when the heat wave comes and cooks the old folks in Paris (while their kids are at the beach for a month) - bang! Fusion.
Wish the effort well. The cost is nothing compared to the possible payoff. And once done, others will do it better and more cheaply. The nature of the joint effort means that all details will be known around the world.
Posted by KenS
06/28/2005 at 04:58 PM
TuffBeingRight is correct. You smush together two hydrogen atoms to get a helium atom for fusion. I trust the French to build a better Escargot, but not to do fusion. They do get a whole hell of a lot of their power from Nukes, however. I suspect that the US is about to start building a lot more nukes after a 30 year moratorium on building nuke plants. I think this is good. I applaud the Frog’s efforts in cuisine and nuclear power.
You also have gamma rays that come from a fusion reaction, which be a bit more harmful than those alpha particles (also known as helium nuclei, also known as the product of the reaction! Yay!). Not only can paper stop those nasty little alphas (actually, in reality they are the biggest form of radiation, but...), but so can your skin. Just don’t eat anything emmitting alphas. Or any other radiation, ‘cause it gets worse from there. Them gamma particles/rays (they are photons, so both) can only be stopped by lots-o’-concrete or lead.
Yadda yadda yadda…
steel said:
>> I guess the French MIGHT have figured that little problem out ... but aren’t they the same folks who didn’t get around to putting a differential in their cars until ... oh ... say ... 1970? CITROEN.
this is the beauty of it steel. what is the worst case scenario? a thermo-nuclear supernova sucks the pacifist cesspool we call france off the face of the earth...? i call it a “win-win”.
They didn’t bother with much shielding in their nuke aircraft carrier either. Not that it works very well or very often. I believe much of it’s underway time is at the end of a tow line. They’re going to get the Brits to build the next one. It makes me wonder who builds their nuke electric plants.
They can cook very well. Engineering is not their forté.
Macker is right. Commercial fusion is not going to fall into anybody’s lap in the near future. Fusion research seems to have stood still for the past 20 years, and has degenerated into scientific “stamp collecting”. I would be one of the first people to whoop with joy if the breakthrough were made. But the approach here seems to be that if you chuck enough money at it, it’ll work. (A typical political fallacy.) I heard on Euronews that they plan to fuse deuterium with lithium. I see from the ITER website they’re sticking with the 30-year-old Tokamak design. Ho hum.
06/29/2005 at 08:44 AM
