0
Why would a fusion reactor produce less radioactive waste than a fission reactor?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
In my understanding, this is because a fusion reactor reacts deuterium to produce helium, which is not radioactive, whereas a fission uses uranium or plutonium, for example, which may react to form various radioactive isotopes.
A fusion reactor may contain small quantities of tritium, in which case a radioactive isotope of hydrogen may be produced, but given that the majority of reactions occurring involve solely the deuterium, there is less radioactive waste produced.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Was the Chernobyl meltdown from fusion or fission?
The reactor(s) at Chernobyl are fission reactors, and fission of fuel and fission products following the fire and the overheating of the core melted it down.
Why do hydrogen bombs produce radioactive waste?
Although the name suggests that the bomb solely uses nuclear fusion to create mass destruction, a Hydrogen bomb actually contains both fission and fusion fuels. Since fusion requires such a high energy input to initiate, a fission bomb is required to detonate the fusion component of the Hydrogen bomb, thereby releasing nuclear waste and radiation.
Does fusion create large amounts of radioactive waste?
True. If fusion can be made to work in manmade equipment, for power production, (and this is not certain), there should be much less radioactive waste than for fission reactors. The product of the fusion, helium, is harmless. The engineering details of such a plant have not been established, but the energy produced will presumably be extracted from materials surrounding the reaction chamber which absorb the neutrons produced, so these materials will become irradiated and radioactive. Whether the structure will remain for the life of the plant or perhaps neutron absorbing materials have to be replenished from time to time is unknown, but obviously there will be some radioactive waste to be dealt with.
The difference between nuclear waste and nuclear weapons?
The exact contents of radioactive waste from a nuclear power plant and radioactive fallout from a nuclear weapon can vary widely but are likely to be similar in their primary isotopes.The major difference between the radioactive waste from a nuclear power plant and radioactive fallout from a nuclear weapon is that the waste is normally contained and will not enter the environment (unless an accident happens) while the fallout is dispersed into the environment and is carried by the wind (sometimes all the way around the world multiple times).
Good and bad effect of nuclear fission and fusion?
fission crest radio active wastes wich are harmeful to life. they create tumors and we are running out of space to store the waste. fission crest radio active wastes wich are harmeful to life. they create tumors and we are running out of space to store the waste.
What are the main advantage of a fusion reactor compared to a fission reactor?
It doesn't produce radioactive byproducts.
How a fusion reactor would be similar to a fission reactor?
explain how a fusion reactor would be similar to a fission reaction
Is fusion controllable as fission is reactor?
no
What are some advantages to using a fusion reactor to produce electricity?
it should be radiologically cleaner than fission
What advantages would a fusion reactor have over the fission reactors currently being operated?
Plenty of cheap fuel, and no radioactive waste.
The two processes which produce nuclear changes are?
Fission & Fusion. I JUST now got an answer right by using this. Good Luck! :D Hope this was helpful.
What are the advantages of a fusion reactor compared to a fission reactor?
You must realise that any claimed advantages are based on scientists predictions, and to some extent wishful thinking, as it is not even determined in engineering terms how a nuclear fusion plant could be built, what materials could be used, and how the heat would be extracted. However ever since fusion was proposed, scientists have been pointing out that it would produce much less radioactivity than fission does, and this is true, there would not be the spent fuel containing very highly active fission products that fission produces. There would be activation of structures in the plant due to the neutron irradiation coming from the plasma undergoing fusion. There are also consequences from needing to produce the tritium fuel, which is a dangerous substance to human health. So it all depends on future progress with ITER and further test rigs, but at the moment it is academic since it is very unlikely to happen within this century.
What are the two type of reactors?
There are fission and fusion reactors. However, at present (2016) there is no commercial fusion reactor which can produce more energy than is required to operate it.
What is better solar energy fission reactor or fusion reactor?
solar is a billion times better.
What are the three main advantages of a fusion reactor compared to a fission reactor?
Nuclear fusion reactors do not exist yet as we don't know how to build them. All nuclear reactors are nuclear fission reactors.
If a fusion reaction produces no appreciable radioactive isotopes then why does a hydrogen bomb produce significant radioactive fallout?
A hydrogen bomb is actually a fission-fusion-fission reaction. The primary fission trigger (plutonium) supplies the energy to induce fusion, but then the fusion energy is used to initiate the secondary fission, which is a large amount of uranium. (in a "clean" H bomb, the uranium is replaced with lead, making it much weaker) also, the radiation will affect the surrounding area, creating a large number of isotopes, dramatically increasing the radioactive fallout.-Akilae
Does fusion produce radioactive waste?
No. The products of nuclear fusion are not radioactive.
