China is progressing toward mining fusion-ready helium-3, a non-radioactive isotope of helium, which does not generate any hard-to-contain neutrons as a reaction product. Containing 2 protons and only one (instead of the more usual 2) neutrons, it can be fused with itself, only generating protons. The protons that do get generated can be safely contained using electromagnetic fields owing to their positive charge. In this aneutronicfudion, the lone high-energy by-product, the proton, which can be contained using electric and magnetic fields, can lead a direct net electricity generation, as its its momentum energy interacts with the containing electromagnetic field. The Sun regularly spews out helium-3 particles into space but these can not reach the Earth due to its magnetic shield, whereas they get embedded in the top surface layer of the Moon, which is estimated to contain up to five million tons of the precious stuff.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 03:47:47 +0000
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