DescentBB

As you know, in 2019 will complete the construction of ITER project. The launch of fusion reactor first power station using tritium as fuel, will be held in 2020. But! To start the ITER require at least about 3 kg tritium. The global commercial demand for the year 1995 amounts to about 400 grams per year, and still about 7 kg was required for global military customers. While the world's reserves of tritium are about 20 kilograms. Production of tritium using the reactor itself is possible only in theory. In my opinion this is a good reason to reduce the cost of rare isotopes for military needs...

Time to start mining asteroids.

Something tells me asteroids will be a poor source of tritium.

Avder wrote:Something tells me asteroids will be a poor source of tritium.

Probably, but that's my default answer for a lot of things a Descent forum.

If we want hydrogen in mass quantities, we need to go to Saturn.

Why not Jupiter? ★■◆●ing deep gravity wells suck and the planet is literally a radiation death trap. The only problem with Saturn is sheer distance. Almost twice as far as Jupiter (~9.5AU vs ~5.2AU).

The thing about Saturn tho is it's practically got all the bases covered for amenities once someone gets there. You've got water out the wazoo in the rings and Enceladus, Titan is downright habitable in that all you'd need to go outside there is a really warm coat and a facemask that provides breathable oxygen. Plus if you strap wings to yourself there you could FLY!

While in the U.S. is 33 abandoned nuclear reactors that decades pumped in an underground repository industrial waste containing tritium.

Avder wrote:If we want hydrogen in mass quantities, we need to go to Saturn.

Why not Jupiter? ★■◆●ing deep gravity wells suck and the planet is literally a radiation death trap. The only problem with Saturn is sheer distance. Almost twice as far as Jupiter (~9.5AU vs ~5.2AU).

The thing about Saturn tho is it's practically got all the bases covered for amenities once someone gets there. You've got water out the wazoo in the rings and Enceladus, Titan is downright habitable in that all you'd need to go outside there is a really warm coat and a facemask that provides breathable oxygen. Plus if you strap wings to yourself there you could FLY!

How about He3? Plenty of it right next door on the moon.

At least, for the purification of helium from hydrogen isotopes can be used carbon, while for the purification of the tritium radioactive wastes as a sorbent is quite often used wood chips.