Fusion Neutrons

Jerry Williams ([email removed]) writes:
> For fusion, there is a problem with fuel -- ordinary
> hydrogen does not have enough (or any) neutrons to fuse
> into helium.  Thus, current fusion uses heavy hydrogen
> (deuterium or tritium) which is found in SMALL amounts
> along with normal hydrogen.  Refinement of fuel could
> then mean either selecting out all of the heavy hydrogen
> or better yet MAKING most of the hydrogen "heavy".  It
> could also be possible to burn normal hydrogen, but you
> would need to find a way to "donate" neutrons to the
> reaction.  Note that this would probably be harder and
> more damaging to the reactor than pre-treating the
> hydrogen in the first place.


I'm not sure exactly what the objection is here.  As you know,
the primary solar fusion reaction involves purely light
hydrogen.  The key observation is that a hydrogen *atom is* a
neutron -- QUESTION: what's the difference between a
proton-electron pair and a neutron?  ANSWER: a mass defect and
a bunch of empty space.  A free neutron will eventually decay
into a proton and electron, and release a tiny bit of energy.
If the objection is that the barrier potential to overcome to
squeeze a p-e pair into a neutron is very large, I'll concede
this, but I've always assumed they could just do it, at least
by TL14 or so...


Comments?


					Bart Massey
					[email removed]