In the diagram in the TechCrunch article, they talk about fusing deuterium and helium. A deuterium-deuterium fusion would produce copious neutrons and is highly undesirable. They want charged particles to enable direct conversion to electrical. The Wikipedia page says they have published something about deuterium and helium-3 fusion, which Wikipedia says is an improbable commercial reaction due to limited availability of helium-3. In the TechCrunch article, the diagram shows extraction of helium(-3?) from the exhaust for injection as fuel. What I don't understand is what will PREVENT D-D fusion if the conditions are present for D-3He fusion. In fact, if they intend to breed 3He, then it seems there will be other reactions going on that probably will not be aneutronic. It sounds like a pretty neutronic mess to me, and I don't think I would want to be anywhere near the ongoing experiments.
Bob On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 1:27 PM, Eric Walker <eric.wal...@gmail.com> wrote: > See: > > > http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/14/y-combinator-and-mithril-invest-in-helion-a-nuclear-fusion-startup/ > > Some points to mention: > > - Three years for them to get things going is considered a long time > (cf. BLP). > - They do not appear to be using d+t, and instead are using just > deuterium (if I've understood this detail). > - They're aiming to build a rather small device that will compete with > things like diesel generators. > > (I'm guessing they won't achieve break-even in three years' time.) > > Eric > >
