Accelerator Driven Systems - Subcritical Reactors, page 1
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Topic started on 18-6-2005 @ 02:23 PM by Simon666
Well, since oil is getting scarce and nuclear fusion ain't going anywhere the first couple of decades, I thought it would be informative of shedding light on some alternative, realistic options. One such an option are accelerator driven systems, also called subcritical reactors, the idea is to use a particle accelerator as neutron source to drive the fusion reaction.

The main advantages are:

  • it is intrinsically safer, because it stops when the accelerator is switched off. Criticality is no longer a big risk, the only remaining risk is still that off a meltdown.
  • it can better adapt to some variation of the criticality (due to a variation of the constitution of different nuclides in the reactor) during the operation of the reactor than a conventional reactor by tuning the intensity of the proton beam.
  • it can be operated by natural thorium, which is much more abundant than the actually used 235U, which could solve the energy problem of mankind for several ten-thousands of years.
  • when operated with thorium, no 239Pu which constitutes a problem for proliferation, is breeded.
  • there is an option to also transmutate certain forms of nuclear waste, which makes themselves no more radioactive in a matter of hundreds of years instead of hundreds of thousands of years. This makes storage of nuclear waste cheaper and takes away an argument of environmentalists that a burden is put on future generations in the extreme long term.


    The main disadvantages are:

  • there is a need for 10% extra energy to fuel the accelerator which is wasted
  • technical difficulties with producing a consistent neutron beam and heating of the spallation target
  • high cost of the accelerator in addition to the powerplant

    Accelerator driven systems: an application of proton accelerators to nuclear power industry

    Robert Klapisch

    I'm not going to copy and paste the entire article, for that please go to the link provided. It is a long but interesting read.


    • reply posted on 30-8-2005 @ 10:08 AM by Regenmacher
    It's a shame that alternate nuclear energy technologies don't spark more interest. It makes me think that people have resolved to watch society collapse back into pre-oil days.


    Accelerator-Driven Transmutation System
    www.nea.fr...

    Another nuclear technology that has sparked my interest is betavoltaic power cells. Nuclear batteries for cars sounds like a pipe dream, but is currently possible.

    peswiki.com...:Beta_voltaic

    Thanks for posting the article. I'm looking into it now.
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