Building a Star on Earth - France gets nuclear fusion plant

[neonplanet40]

We already have fusion based weaponry in the form of H-bombs. Please go and put your tinfoil hat back in the shed.

I was referring to anti matter etc as it is highly unstable but o well.

neo

[ajbrun]

Antimatter itself is to hard to make and too hard to store to be used as a weapon or propellant in the near future, but using antimatter to get a fusion reaction going is quite possible and may soon have practical applications, like a cleaner, safer (for the troops sent in after the blast) hydrogen bomb, and spacecraft propulsion.

AFAIK, antimatter is impossible to store because as soon as it touches matter (normal atoms that would be used for the container), both the antimatter, and the matter would explode.



Neon - I think you need to trust the world a bit more. We've had nuclear weapons and the like for about 60 years now, and have only used them twice. Neither of those times has been as a terrorist attack. Yes, I'm sure there are risks with new technologies, but there are also risks with corssing the road etc. I'm sure more people have died crossing the road etc than in terrorist attacks.

[neonplanet40]

Lol i do trust the world and im all for change. But until george bush is out of office ill stay on my toes thanx I have a feelign that on his last day in office hes gonna press that big red button

Neo

[mmh]

This isn't such a bad thing, infact I'm quite looking forward to living on primest beach front property on lake France...

Stealing my sayings i see

[oralpain]

AFAIK, antimatter is impossible to store because as soon as it touches matter (normal atoms that would be used for the container), both the antimatter, and the matter would explode.

Antimatter is not impossible to store, it's been stored on many occasions. It never comes into contact with normal matter while they store it. A vacuum, magnetic/electric fields and very low temperatures prevent it. Look up "penning trap", it's one way to contain antimatter particles.

A somewhat similar method is used in fusion reactors of the same type as the one being buit in France. The active plasma in these reactors never touches the reactor itself. It's many millions of degrees and would melt/destroy any material very quickly, yet it's containable, with magnetic fields.