For example when Russia invaded Ukraine and they attacked Chernobyl. Maybe it’s not founded in real risk. But I imagine it could be a security threat for someone to bomb a nuclear facility.
To alleviate your concerns - unlike fission, in a fusion reactor the only radiation comes from the active fusion process, and chamber lining that’s been bombarded by radiation. The worst case is a brief spike of neutron and gamma radiation from where the chamber breaches before the plasma collapses, a small amount of short-lived radioisotopes from the chamber debris, and a bit of tritium.
The radiation from the debris would be at background levels in a year or two, since there’s no transutanic decay chains. The tritium would disperse to background levels in minutes, and the radiation burst would only be a hazard in the immediate vicinity.
Not free from issues at all, but compared to a fission reactor the worst-case scenario isn’t bad at all.
SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
how so?
The technology to use fusion as a bomb already exists. and has 0 to do with how the reactors work
atcorebcor@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
For example when Russia invaded Ukraine and they attacked Chernobyl. Maybe it’s not founded in real risk. But I imagine it could be a security threat for someone to bomb a nuclear facility.
Techlos@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
To alleviate your concerns - unlike fission, in a fusion reactor the only radiation comes from the active fusion process, and chamber lining that’s been bombarded by radiation. The worst case is a brief spike of neutron and gamma radiation from where the chamber breaches before the plasma collapses, a small amount of short-lived radioisotopes from the chamber debris, and a bit of tritium.
The radiation from the debris would be at background levels in a year or two, since there’s no transutanic decay chains. The tritium would disperse to background levels in minutes, and the radiation burst would only be a hazard in the immediate vicinity.
Not free from issues at all, but compared to a fission reactor the worst-case scenario isn’t bad at all.
atcorebcor@sh.itjust.works 18 hours ago
Great, and I also hear that the amount of nuclear waste is tiny in comparison to contemporary nuclear reactors.
SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
A fusion power plant will not explode in any meaningful way
atcorebcor@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Alright, the more you know