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Precisely. At least for the NIF. IF they push to a power producing pulsed laser system and stick with gold horboliums (sp?), they will be vaporizing and to a small extent transmuting ~ a BB sized chunk of gold at up to perhaps a hundred shots per second. This may approximate ~ 1 once of gold per second, or almost $2,000 per second, $ 120,000 per minute or almost $3,000,000 per hr in gold consumption alone. How much of this can be recovered. How much will be deposited on the vessel walls. Removing it will require concentrated nitric acid which will not be kind to the underlieing metal, unless some other clever mechanism can be used. Without high efficiency recycling a couple of plants might burn through the entire worlds gold supply in only a few years. The only substitute high density metal that I speculate might work at lower cost and greater abundance might be lead, silver, tin, tungsten, or even mercury. Uranium , and thorium would have induced radiation problems, Could the system be made to work with a lighter metal such as aluminum, iron, nickel or copper? Osmium or platinum would cost even more than the gold.
Exactly my view of the situations as well. It is an absolutely ridiculous concept. If you ask me, it is all about the weapons applications of this, not about any serious research into fusion energy. That is just a means to sell it to the gullible public, so they keep the dollars flowing.
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You are consistent in your humanity, I must say.
