[extropy-chat] Space elevator numbers III

[spike]

> It's fairly clear that there are not many hardware people on this list or
> they are not speaking out.
...
> 
> Keith Henson
>


Keith, I would probably have put in more but for the fact that youuuu have
me distracted worrying about and calculating how plutonium could be made
with stuff ordinary people or dippy little governments could get.  The
solubility of uranium nitrate of 66g/100cc was a surprise.  66 g of uranium,
what's that about 3cc, in a bit over 100 cc solution, nuclei spread apart by
only a factor of 30 something from the solid state, ug, plenty of neutron
captures possible, resulting Pu easily electro-removed from solution.  

I calculated an energy balance taking into account the kinetic energy of the
recoiling U nucleus after absorbing the neutron, but that didn't help.  I
get less than half a percent of the energy of the neutron ends up in kinetic
energy.

Now we need to control all neutron sources.

That and I have been sick for over three weeks now, bronchitis, oy.  The
medics gave me some drugs today so I should be better soon.

spike

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