When Leo Szilard conceived the idea of a nuclear chain reaction, he thought it would work with beryllium. If this really works, it means he missed by one square in the periodic table.
it makes sense if you have a external neutron source, but I can't imagine how they can chain the reaction because it release electrons instead of neutrons.
Also, I don't understand all the recicling Lithium angle. If this go up comertially, woudn't it be cheaper to buy Lithium from a common source instead of recicling batteries? (If recicling were cheapier, batteries factories would have been using that source.)
I'm not sure about the cost, but I remember that for some medical aplication there are some protons rays to neutron rays "converters". (IIRC it's a target of berilium that absorbs the proton, splits, and release a neutron. IIRC) They are easy to turn off inmediately. (IIRC)
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[ 2.2 ms ] story [ 24.5 ms ] threadAlso, I don't understand all the recicling Lithium angle. If this go up comertially, woudn't it be cheaper to buy Lithium from a common source instead of recicling batteries? (If recicling were cheapier, batteries factories would have been using that source.)