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From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Room Temperature fusion - possible indications?
Message-ID: <1989Mar28.050309.8128@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <290@vlsi.ll.mit.edu> <4380@mtuxo.att.com> <1989Mar25.041342.25786@utzoo.uucp> <8299@csli.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 89 05:03:09 GMT

In article <8299@csli.STANFORD.EDU> jkl@csli.stanford.edu (John Kallen) writes:
>I've been reading the postings about R.T. fusion with interest, and I
>am wondering: why are neutrons so undesirable in a nuclear reaction?
>Aren't protons and neutrons of the same energies just as bad? Or does
>the Coulomb repulsion of a proton by the nucleus play a role here?

Uncharged particles in general are much more penetrating, because they
interact more weakly with matter.  This has several implications,
including the need for massive shielding for personnel and electronics.
For really high-power applications like fusion rocketry, everything near
the engine gets hot, instead of just the engine, due to neutron heating.
Neutrons also tend to make the shielding (etc.) radioactive, which adds
a nasty waste-disposal problem.  Finally, protons can be controlled
and bullied around with magnetic fields, which neutrons ignore.
-- 
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