[Kylon]

Please pardon my ignorance on this topic, but I wanted to throw this idea out there as a possible way to help us with our energy predicament. I might not be the only one thinking this out there as well (I know there are other fission fusion hybrid ideas).

I was thinking, that since U-235,U-234,U-233, and Plutonium 239 are all relatively unstable, that it might take less energy to break them up/cause them to fission, than the energy required to cause deuterium to fuse. If that's true, then it might be possible to use a lower temperature to cause the fissionable materials to break up.

So what if you used something like a tokomak, but possibly smaller, filled it with hydrogen ions, and a small number of ionized uranium or plutonium atoms, and then heated the plasma up using microwaves, enough to cause the fissionable material to break apart and get superheated. As it got superheated from fissioning, it could then heat up the hydrogen ions nearby, leading them to fusion, as the process carried on, it could effectively create more and more helium, converting the hydrogen into helium and producing lots of energy in the process.

You would essentially be using the fissionable isotopes as a catalyst. Kind of like adding paper to a wood fire to get it started.

Is there any reason why this idea would not work?

Because if it does work, it could mean we could produce all the fusion energy we could ever need. The amount of fissionable material necessary for such a system wouldn't need to be that high.

What does everybody think?

[diemos]

I think you either need to leave science to the scientists, or buckle down and get a degree in nuclear physics.

There's no easy way to explain why this is ridiculous if you don't have the science background to understand it.

[guistebal]

Well... it works at a macro scale when you want to start uncontroled fusion reaction with the physical effects of a huge and brutal fission reaction (hydrogen bomb).

But in a controlled fusion reaction, that's far more complicated. What you have to understand is that you don't need to just "heat". To make it simple : you want to increase probability of impact between atoms and with enough energy to make them close enough (not easy... electric repulsion), which, in an even more simple approximate word for people who are not experts, means "compress and heat a lot".

Fissile atoms, besides all the technological challenges to put them in a tokamak and control them, would actually be of no help at this level and would probably poison fusion reaction, by decreasing the probably of impact between to fusionnable atoms and by "stealing" their kinetic energy. That's also why one of the goal of the ITER project is to develop ways to pump out fusion byproducts which are "killing" progressively the fusion reaction.

[Kylon]

Guistebal, thank you for the feedback.

[Subjectivist]

Well... it works at a macro scale when you want to start uncontroled fusion reaction with the physical effects of a huge and brutal fission reaction (hydrogen bomb).

But in a controlled fusion reaction, that's far more complicated. What you have to understand is that you don't need to just "heat". To make it simple : you want to increase probability of impact between atoms and with enough energy to make them close enough (not easy... electric repulsion), which, in an even more simple approximate word for people who are not experts, means "compress and heat a lot".

Fissile atoms, besides all the technological challenges to put them in a tokamak and control them, would actually be of no help at this level and would probably poison fusion reaction, by decreasing the probably of impact between to fusionnable atoms and by "stealing" their kinetic energy. That's also why one of the goal of the ITER project is to develop ways to pump out fusion byproducts which are "killing" progressively the fusion reaction.

Actually at the energies planned for the Tokamak the Deuterium itself would be moving fast enough to cause fission, however the fission fragments would quickly build up and poison the reaction as you yourself pointed out.

[Subjectivist]

Russia has invited China to help them develop hybrid fission-fusion reactors.

Russia is developing a hybrid nuclear reactor that uses both nuclear fusion and fission, said head of leading nuclear research facility. The project is open for international collaboration, particularly from Chinese scientists.

A hybrid nuclear reactor is a sort of stepping stone to building a true nuclear fusion reactor. It uses a fusion reaction as a source of neutrons to initiate a fission reaction in a ‘blanket’ of traditional nuclear fuel.

The approach has a number of potential benefits in terms of safety, non-proliferation and cost of generated energy, and Russia is developing such a hybrid reactor, according to Mikhail Kovalchuk, director of the Kurchatov Research Center.

“Today we have started the realization of a distinctively new project. We are trying to combine a schematically operational nuclear plant reactor with a ‘tokamak’ to create a hybrid reactor,” he told RIA Novosti, referring to a type of fusion reactor design.

“This project is open for our colleagues, the Chinese in the first place. It's being discussed,” he added.

Being a leading producer in civilian nuclear energy industry, Russia would benefit from improving its plant designs. A hybrid fusion-fission reactor may be several times more efficient than a traditional fission reactor. And building one is “a goal for tomorrow” rather than the distant future, as is the case for a fusion reactor like the famous France-based International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) that Russia collaborates on, Kovalchuk said.

http://rt.com/news/196088-russia-hybrid ... r-reactor/