Driving nuclear energy with proton accelerators

[phantom power]

Since we already know how to breed fuel from thorium, I'm not sure I see the need for developing exotic new technologies that accomplish the same thing. Unless this is a case of particle physicists trying to sell an R&D program to build themselves some new toys.

Not that that's a bad thing.

Many different design proposals exist, but the basic concept would use an intense proton accelerator to produce high-energy, or fast, neutrons with energies of approximately 10 million electronvolts. Place thorium in the stream of neutrons, and it transmutes, or changes, to uranium, resulting in an abundant supply of nuclear fuel. As a bonus, the accelerator would also destroy the majority of the nuclear waste.

In order to make accelerator-driven nuclear reactors a reality, scientists need to develop an accelerator that is 10 times more intense than any existing machine. A renewed interest in accelerator-driven nuclear energy, as well as a proposed linear collider, pushed scientists to explore new technologies, such as superconducting radiofrequency cavities, to build a high-intensity proton accelerator. It also led to workshops like the one that will take place at Fermilab in October.

“We need to concentrate on solving the accelerator intensity problem. A high-intensity accelerator at Fermilab will help solve a number of physics needs, such as those for a proposed muon collider,” says Fermilab physicist and workshop organizer Rajendran Raja. “It is also the opportune time to examine accelerator-driven nuclear reactors.”

Attendees at the Workshop on the Applications of High-Intensity Proton Accelerators will discuss the challenges for building a high-intensity proton accelerator, focusing specifically on superconducting linear accelerators and their potential applications. The workshop will help advance the design of Fermilab’s proposed Project X and other future accelerators that may use superconducting rf technology. Attendees will also explore other physics programs that will benefit from a high-intensity proton accelerator, such as a proposed neutrino factory and rare kaon and muon decay studies.

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2009/09/23/driving-nuclear-energy-with-proton-accelerators/

[thereismore]

1. That accelerator won't run on solar power... it's a pipe dream. nt

[Ratty]

2. I thought uranium was abundant

I don't see a need to produce it artificially. Though I see the benefit of converting nuclear waste.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Um, thorium-cycle reactors have *already been operated* ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium_cycle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium

Thorium is more abundant than uranium, and India has some of the world's largest reserves. A pity that Pakistan and Iran do not appear to have such large reserves, as this could steer them into development of thorium-cycle reactors, which are less easily diverted to production of nuclear weapons (wrong isotopes).

The accelerator-based design is an example of a so-called "energy amplifier" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_amplifier , a type of subcritical reactor. The advantage of such a design is that if operation were interrupted, the reactor would simply cool down, since it would never contain a critical mass of fuel -- a notable fail-safe feature.