News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on U.S. physicists rally around plan to build fusion power plant. Parent comment

Re:U.S. physicists rally around plan to build fusion power p... by Mediterraneo10 on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @01:56AM (#25356051)
Space probes require a minuscule amount of radioactive fuel, but launching that into space has still occasionally caused concern among environmentalists, as something might go wrong during launch. Can you imagine the resistance if someone wanted to launch enough processed uranium to support a Mars colony?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:U.S. physicists rally around plan to build fusion power p... by nine_k on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @02:02AM (#25356078)
If it's a pebble bed design, easily.

Pebbles are uranium coated with multiple protective layers, extremely strong. They could be collected and reused if the launch vehicle plainly explodes on the launch pad.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:U.S. physicists rally around plan to build fusion power p... by WJW on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @06:42AM (#25357606)
I think the problem is more when it explodes when the rocket is already going mach 10 and the resulting explosion scatters thousands of radioactive pebbles across several thousand square kilometres of Atlantic ocean, possibly hundreds of metres deep.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:U.S. physicists rally around plan to build fusion power p... by Vecr on Thursday December 10, 2020 @05:23PM (#25379604)
Why's that a problem? The uranium won't leak out, the ocean will provide enough cooling, and even if it eventually does, it would be slowly and near the bottom, causing no problems at all.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:U.S. physicists rally around plan to build fusion power p... by fpoling on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @04:34AM (#25356849)
The problem with space probes is that the radioactive fuel is highly radioactive plutonium. If probe explodes and plutonium disperses in atmosphere, that causes thousands deaths via lung cancer. Uranium does not causes that.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:U.S. physicists rally around plan to build fusion power p... by pfdietz on Thursday December 10, 2020 @04:44AM (#25371782)
235U is not very dangerous at all before it has undergone a chain reaction. The oceans contains tens of millions of tonnes of the isotope.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:U.S. physicists rally around plan to build fusion power p... by 08-15 on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @06:50AM (#25357652)
Everything causes concern among environmentalists, even dihydrogen monoxide.
[ Parent | on HN ]