Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:33 pm
When neutrons and gammas hit material, they produce heat. Like in normal nuclear plant.icedragonw1 wrote:using a deuterium or lead blanket would work well as a way of capturing the energy from the neutrons.
Though it's my lack of knowledge in certain areas of nuclear technology, but I thought that fission produced thermal energy as well as neutrons.
Heat needs thermal cycle to convert electricity. And thermodynamics say that you need high as posible temperature to gain max amount electricity. In normal nuclear plant temp is ~300C and gain ~34% efficiency. In coal plants things are simpler and heat is posible to reach 550-600C ~steam thecnology upper limit..
300C hot chamber definetly make some SC magnets broblem.. And remember steam pressure ~130bar in that temp.
Direct electricity is so nice thing. So look anneutronic fusions.
btw fast neutrons breed uranium only slow neutrons fissions. Lot of neutrons ofcourse make transuranides to fission, but if like do that then you need lot of neutrons so basically it is fusion reactor and only minor amount fission happens.
Anyway neutrons are usable to breed thorium and uranium and they are also usable to transmutate fission waste harmless.
Anybody knows how big crossection U238 or Th232 have compared B10? If use them to shield magnets in DD reactor..
Slurry or UF6 to circulate. Maybe put diffusion system in same circulation? There is lot of U238 waste, if breed it nox fuel, no, better to breed with thorium, so it is more difficult to separate U233 than plutonium and BFR shield circulation come simpler to remove uranium from thorium.