Bradwell developments (the Power Station)

[AliM]

Neil,

I think you mean fusion - that is like a hydrogen bomb, but in control, rather than fission, which is like a uranium bomb. The advantages of fusion are that it uses hydrogen isotopes (available from water and from lithium, I think) so there's lots of them, and if things go wrong it just stops happening, rather than blowing up, and the waste is relatively benign. The disadvantage is it's incredibly difficult. Your programme said it will be possible in 20 years time - so did a lecture I heard in 1972! - so I suspect that's optimistic, but it will come in our kids' lifetimes.

I agree, it's the way we have to go, and the governments should be pumping indecent amounts into research, but they aren't because it will only reap rewards in teh next government but three!

Ali

 

[bastonjock]

i heard the R4 program as well,i first heard about that project many years ago,they were using plasma to create energy,they have had the world best minds working on that one,i spoke to a Nuclear phisasist(sp) about it maybe 20 years ago and he was concerned about something called Therms??????? They were trying to replicate the same type of reaction that happens in the Sun

 

[DanTribe]

i heard the R4 program as well,i first heard about that project many years ago,they were using plasma to create energy,they have had the world best minds working on that one,i spoke to a Nuclear phisasist(sp) about it maybe 20 years ago and he was concerned about something called Therms??????? They were trying to replicate the same type of reaction that happens in the Sun

In 1958 we were all celebrating because we would never have any energy costs ever again thanks to the Zeta nuclear fusion project.
Shortly afterwards the scientists found that they had done their sums wrong, but success was sure to come soon!

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Oops.... yes sorry Ali... got my Fission and Fusion mixed up.... (easy mistake said one Ayatollah to another)

In my defence, its been a lot of years since I had to worry about Schroedinger, Bohr or Dirac!

While I take your point that fusion has always been 'just around the corner', if you examine our abilities in things like high power laser technology due to years of telecoms led investment, we're surely closer now than ever before?

 

[FullCircle]

, if you examine our abilities in things like high power laser technology due to years of telecoms led investment, we're surely closer now than ever before?

Are you saying that your iPhone is now a high powered laser nuclear power generating plant?
Blimey that's some app.

 

[AliM]

You are right about the laser technology. One of the major problems is that these processes only happen at the sorts of temperatures and pressures that you get in the centre of the sun. The americans are achieving this by firing several very high powered lasers onto a tiny pellet of fuel from all directions. The Europeans are doing it by a magnetic constriction of the fuel. Both are fiendishly difficult, but the problems are beginning to be solved.

Meanwhile, we have to have the new Bradwells and the wind farms to tide us over till the fusion power plants work - maybe 20 years, but more likely 50 or 100, if global warming's results haven't wiped us out before then.

Pessimistic...moi?