Neutrons seem to be the best evidence for determining if fusion reactions are occuring in experiments, but several historical fusion devices, such as ZETA, were fooled by non-fusion neutrons from Spallation.
Are bubble detectors worth using if neutrons don't prove fusion? What sort of evidence would I need to collect to prove fusion has occured in a prototype device?
If a proton beam is fired at a target of lithium or tungsten and neutrons are produced, where did the neutrons come from? What happens to the protons and the target's atoms?
Might be the wrong sub, let me know if so
So I was reading about neutron stars, and theoretically they would have a massive and very strong magnetic field. Do you guys think it would be feasible to have a spaceship with massive copper (or other conductor) windings around it, which could use a neutron star as a massive energy source? It could fall into orbit around the star, and its orbit would provide the motion, so it would effectively be like a massive generator. This could either be used as a power source for the ship - it hopping between neutron stars and being able to use basically any sci-fi FTL way of movement since it would have essentially infinite power, if it needed more it could just fall into a tighter orbit where it would spin faster - or as a permanent power source with a satellite constellation of coils interconnected via lasers or other wireless energy transfer. Just thought this was a cool idea that I haven't seen anyone think of before.
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For all my nerds out there
It is my understanding that Pu-239 does not release neutrons throughout its decay chain. So what would have been the neutron source to initiate the fission of Pu-239 in the Demon Core experiments?
So the idea behind the NSWR (nuclear salt water rocket) is to have a mix of water and fission fuel like uranium or plutonium, which readily goes critical unless it's properly stored in a boron lined tank. So this is one of those technologies that really wants to explode and we have to actively put in effort to stop it from exploding at any given time until we want it too. Rather risky. Is there a way to flip that, to make it safe until we actively put in effort to make it explode? Could we, for instance, make a fuel that is safe to sit around and only goes critical when we introduce neutrons from an active source, such as a Farnsworth Fusor? Turn off the fusor and the whole engine shuts down.
