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US particle accelerators turn nuclear waste into electricity, cut radioactive li

Started by Marlin, Feb 20, 2026, 04:56

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Marlin


Mounder

you can't just hit radioactive material with a particle accelerator and magically lower decay times (and you'll be running it forever and getting little done). You can split atoms with it.  It says there's a lot of heat produced. I'm sure there is a lot of energy released. It also uses a ton of electrical power. What it doesn't say in the article is that they're going to hit "fissionable elements" with it. Maybe they'll pick and choose some smaller activated stuff on the periodic chart.

Marlin

Quote from: Mounder on Feb 22, 2026, 07:38you can't just hit radioactive material with a particle accelerator and magically lower decay times (and you'll be running it forever and getting little done). You can split atoms with it.  It says there's a lot of heat produced. I'm sure there is a lot of energy released. It also uses a ton of electrical power. What it doesn't say in the article is that they're going to hit "fissionable elements" with it. Maybe they'll pick and choose some smaller activated stuff on the periodic chart.

It makes some sense to me that a high neutron flux would burn transuranics lowering half-life. They are still working on it.