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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
John Sheffield, Mohamed Sawan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 53 | Number 3 | April 2008 | Pages 780-788
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST53-780
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Catalyzed D-D is the ultimate fusion cycle, because deuterium is essentially unlimited on earth. In this approach, the 3He and tritium fusion products are recycled to increase the charged particle fusion power. A difficulty with this fusion cycle is that the tritium from fusion, if left in the plasma, produces 14-MeV neutrons, leading to radiation damage comparable to that of the D-T cycle. This paper shows that the damage problems may be alleviated by removing tritium before it can burn. Fortunately, the charged particle fusion power from burning the tritium is small compared to that from the 3He and removing it from the plasma makes little difference to the plasma power balance. Ion cyclotron power might be used to pump out tritium. In this paper, we review the benefits of tritium removal, identify the issues associated with this approach, and determine illustrative parameters required for an advanced tokamak and an advanced stellarator.