According to the theory developed by project theoretical physicist Dr. "The resulting hybrid fusion fast fission nuclear reactor will be smaller than a traditional fission reactor where a lower mass power source is needed and provide efficient operation with thermal waste heat from reactor heats probe to melt through ice shelf to sub-ice oceans."Ī bonus of this new process is the critical role that metal lattice electrons whose negative charges help "screen" positively charged deuterons. Benyo, either fusion process is scalable and could be a pathway to a new type of nuclear-powered spacecraft: screened Oppenheimer-Phillips (O-P) nuclear stripping reactions-also occur in the process. The team also observed the production of more energetic neutrons, indicating that boosted fusion reactions-aka. This process could allow for fast-fission reactions using lattices built from metals like depleted uranium, thorium, or erbium (Er 68) in a molten lithium matrix. Benyo and her colleagues exposed deuterons to a 2.9+MeV energetic X-ray beam, creating energetic neutrons and protons. This is accomplished by packing the lattices with deuterium at densities one billion times greater than in tokamak reactors, where a neutron source accelerates deuterium atoms (deuterons) to the point that they collide with neighboring deuterons, causing fusion reactions. This new method creates an energetic environment inside the lattice where individual atoms achieve equivalent fusion-level kinetic energies. This new method creates fusion reactions within the confines of a metal lattice loaded with deuterium fuel at ambient temperatures. In magnetic confinement (tokamak reactors), the fuel is heated until it reaches temperatures in excess of what occurs at the center of the sun-15 million ☌ (27 million ☏)-to achieve nuclear fusion. With inertial confinement, fuels such as deuterium or tritium (hydrogen-2 or -3) are compressed to extreme pressures (for nanoseconds) where fusion can occur. However, conventional fusion reactions are difficult to achieve and sustain because they rely on temperatures so extreme to overcome the strong electrostatic repulsion between positively charged nuclei that the process has been impractical."Ĭonventional fusion methods generally come down to inertial or magnetic confinement. "Scientists are interested in fusion, because it could generate enormous amounts of energy without creating long-lasting radioactive byproducts. Benyo explained in a recent NASA Glenn Research Center press statement: Their method, known as lattice confinement fusion, was described in two papers published in the April 2020 issue of Physical Review C, titled " Nuclear fusion reactions in deuterated metals" and " Novel nuclear reactions observed in bremsstrahlung-irradiated deuterated metals." As Dr. It will also have to contend with water pressure, maintain communications with the surface, and return samples to the surface. In addition, the proposed probe will need to contend with hydrostatic ice with varying compositions (such as ammonia and silicate rock) at different depths, pressures, temperatures, and densities. ![]() In Europa's case, different models have yielded estimates of between 15 and 25 km (10 and 15 mi). The main challenge for exploring the interiors of these worlds is the thickness of their ice sheets, which can be up to 40 km (25 mi) deep. Further evidence of these oceans and activity includes surface plumes and striated features indicating exchanges between the surface and interior. These worlds are all believed to have interior oceans heated by tidal flexing due to gravitational interaction with their parent body or (in the case of Ceres and Pluto) the decay of radioactive elements. ![]() The list of ocean worlds is long and varied, ranging from Ceres in the Main Asteroid Belt, the moons of Jupiter (Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa), Saturn (Titan, Enceladus, and Dione), Neptune's largest moon (Triton), and Pluto and other bodies in the Kuiper Belt. This proposal was selected for Phase I development by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. ![]() ![]() Theresa Benyo (a physicist and the principal investigator of the lattice confinement fusion project at NASA's Glenn Research Center), a possible solution is to use a special reactor that relies on fission and fusion reactions. One of the many challenges for these missions is how to mine through the thick icy crusts and obtain samples from the interior ocean for analysis.
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