AOE3 Forums

I just read an article about this. Wouldn't it be great? It's essentially nuclear energy, except you can use sea water to make the fuel, it doesn't produce any waste or pollution, not radioactive, and extremely safe.

In a regular "fission" nuclear reactor (The regular ones), they break apart atoms and that generates heat, which they use to heat up water into steam and that goes up some pipe and turns a turbine to make electricity. It requires uranium and some other models take plutonium, which are radioactive, and the waste produced remains radioactive for thousands of years. Also, damage to the reactor could release large amounts of radioation (Radiation from the chernobyl plant in Belarus was found in Norway, thousands of miles away).

Fusion involves fusing atoms together and that generates heat. It doesn't require any fancy radioactive metals like uranium and what not, it only requires tritium (Yes, the same stuff Doc Oc uses for his fusion reactor in spiderman), which is derived from hydrogen (it's an isotope of hydrogen which means it's hydrogen with more neutrons). It produces no harmful waste, and if the reactor is damaged the reaction will stop anyways without safety equipment because the conditions inside need to be just right. Unfortunatly, fusion reactions generate tremendous heat so instead of having it resting on some base it's kept in the air not touching the walls of the reactor by huge magnets. This means that all the fusion reactors we have tested to date have needed more power to run the magnets than they produced, so we aren't anywhere near commercial fusion power yet.

Yet world governments are spending pennies on developing it. Luckily, France is big into it and spends 10 billion a year on it, which is still tiny but more than anyone else.

Fusion would rock. I hear that scientists need helium 13 actually, whoich is VERY abundant on the moon. Yet if we start to harvest the moon, it will become another Oil thing. As being a BIG science student, you wrote that description of fusion very well. A+

I actually have a fair knowledge of fusion power, and I would like to point out the scientific obstacles to create it are huge

we have to create ridiculous temperatures that we cannot contain without melting the shnit out of everything, and there are discrepencies on exactly how it is done. Fusion is hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars out of reach, and several decades, its not that simply, sorry (although the concept of fusion is amazing, and surpasses my current favourite supply of geothermal power)

I agree with you gooback. Yet to prevent the meltinng of everything, could we just not handle fusion like plasma *10000? IT would work in theory... We could also do fusion in space ane beam the power back to earth, which is possiable after recent research (Discovery Project Earth :D). Beaming electricty... Science, while being my favorite thing, will continure to amaze me until the day I die.

computerwiz3:

I agree with you gooback. Yet to prevent the meltinng of everything, could we just not handle fusion like plasma *10000? IT would work in theory... We could also do fusion in space ane beam the power back to earth, which is possiable after recent research (Discovery Project Earth :D). Beaming electricty... Science, while being my favorite thing, will continure to amaze me until the day I die.

you realize how much work has gone into the international space station, that would be so easy to create on earth, yet we struggle to create it, now imagin creating something in space we cannot yet create on earth as it is. The problem is, fussion is just so far away on earth, let alone on space

I was saying do it in space because of multiple advantages, not constant melting, saftey (meltdown in space is better in space then on earth). I do agree with you as wel. I say once we discover a safe way of creating fusion and such, put it in space then, mainly for saftey purposes.

computerwiz3:

I was saying do it in space because of multiple advantages, not constant melting, saftey (meltdown in space is better in space then on earth). I do agree with you as wel. I say once we discover a safe way of creating fusion and such, put it in space then, mainly for saftey purposes.

lol, it will still take it forever to put it in space once we get it on earth, our money is better spent on better safety for the reactor in the first place, and fusions really not that dangerous anyway

Phoenixwi:

I just read an article about this. Wouldn't it be great? It's essentially nuclear energy, except you can use sea water to make the fuel, it doesn't produce any waste or pollution, not radioactive, and extremely safe.

In a regular "fission" nuclear reactor (The regular ones), they break apart atoms and that generates heat, which they use to heat up water into steam and that goes up some pipe and turns a turbine to make electricity. It requires uranium and some other models take plutonium, which are radioactive, and the waste produced remains radioactive for thousands of years. Also, damage to the reactor could release large amounts of radioation (Radiation from the chernobyl plant in Belarus was found in Norway, thousands of miles away).

Fusion involves fusing atoms together and that generates heat. It doesn't require any fancy radioactive metals like uranium and what not, it only requires tritium (Yes, the same stuff Doc Oc uses for his fusion reactor in spiderman), which is derived from hydrogen (it's an isotope of hydrogen which means it's hydrogen with more neutrons). It produces no harmful waste, and if the reactor is damaged the reaction will stop anyways without safety equipment because the conditions inside need to be just right. Unfortunatly, fusion reactions generate tremendous heat so instead of having it resting on some base it's kept in the air not touching the walls of the reactor by huge magnets. This means that all the fusion reactors we have tested to date have needed more power to run the magnets than they produced, so we aren't anywhere near commercial fusion power yet.

Yet world governments are spending pennies on developing it. Luckily, France is big into it and spends 10 billion a year on it, which is still tiny but more than anyone else.

France also spends 2 billion a year to find alien life-forms. Scientists should just find a way to speed up the production of fossil fuels, then somehow add an element that would let it pass through the atmosphere....but that would be uber hard :S.

Well we cannot be the only beings i this universe. If we were... Wow... Makes one feel very small...

REDD:

Phoenixwi:

I just read an article about this. Wouldn't it be great? It's essentially nuclear energy, except you can use sea water to make the fuel, it doesn't produce any waste or pollution, not radioactive, and extremely safe.

In a regular "fission" nuclear reactor (The regular ones), they break apart atoms and that generates heat, which they use to heat up water into steam and that goes up some pipe and turns a turbine to make electricity. It requires uranium and some other models take plutonium, which are radioactive, and the waste produced remains radioactive for thousands of years. Also, damage to the reactor could release large amounts of radioation (Radiation from the chernobyl plant in Belarus was found in Norway, thousands of miles away).

Fusion involves fusing atoms together and that generates heat. It doesn't require any fancy radioactive metals like uranium and what not, it only requires tritium (Yes, the same stuff Doc Oc uses for his fusion reactor in spiderman), which is derived from hydrogen (it's an isotope of hydrogen which means it's hydrogen with more neutrons). It produces no harmful waste, and if the reactor is damaged the reaction will stop anyways without safety equipment because the conditions inside need to be just right. Unfortunatly, fusion reactions generate tremendous heat so instead of having it resting on some base it's kept in the air not touching the walls of the reactor by huge magnets. This means that all the fusion reactors we have tested to date have needed more power to run the magnets than they produced, so we aren't anywhere near commercial fusion power yet.

Yet world governments are spending pennies on developing it. Luckily, France is big into it and spends 10 billion a year on it, which is still tiny but more than anyone else.

France also spends 2 billion a year to find alien life-forms. Scientists should just find a way to speed up the production of fossil fuels, then somehow add an element that would let it pass through the atmosphere....but that would be uber hard :S.

sorry, but is this idea based on any scientific fact

Who are you to decide it NEEDS a scientific fact? I'm sure its possible, somehow anyway.

 

If aliens do exist (which im pretty sure they do), then they would probably make contact with us, I mean unless we're actually taking crafts to other worlds then there isnt really any point to all this, if aliens are so advanced their not going to need to hear a radio signal from mankind to find us. I'm also hoping war is a creation of humans, and aliens dont have them...for obvious reasons.