• Question: Does nuclear fusion produce radioactive nuclear waste the same way that nuclear fission does?

    Asked by anon-202041 to Meirin, George, Andy on 5 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: George Fulton

      George Fulton answered on 5 Mar 2019: last edited 5 Mar 2019 6:30 pm


      No that’s the beauty of it.

      In nuclear fusion the reaction is: deuterium + tritium -> helium + neutron. Deuterium and tritium are just forms of hydrogen but with an extra 1 and 2 neutrons. In this process, nuclei are forced together to form a heavier element, just helium!

      In nuclear fission the reaction involves the splitting or fissioning of a radioactive nuclei (typically U-235 and Plutonium-239.) Neutrons are used to start these reactions. The products are radioactive and some stay radioactive for a very long time. For example, Cs-135 stays radioactive for several million years!

      Nuclear fusion produces higher energy neutrons and this is good because the neutrons are the way to extract the energy. However, neutrons do affect the materials of the nuclear reactor in both nuclear fission and nuclear fusion reactors. This makes the materials become ‘activated’ and they become slightly radioactive. This waste is much less dangerous than conventional nuclear waste and is much more easily stored.

    • Photo: Andy Buckley

      Andy Buckley answered on 7 Mar 2019:


      Being a scientist is often about knowing your limits: my short answer is “no”, but you should really just listen to George on this one 😉

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