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Is Helium-3 a viable energy source?
Helium-3 (He3) is gas that has the potential to be used as a fuel in future nuclear fusion power plants.
Is Helium-3 dangerous?
Unlike Earth, which is protected by its magnetic field, the Moon has been bombarded with large quantities of Helium-3 by the solar wind. It is thought that this isotope could provide safer nuclear energy in a fusion reactor, since it is not radioactive and would not produce dangerous waste products.
Is Helium-3 good for the environment?
Looking at the potential of Helium-3, experts believe that 5,000 tons of coal could be replaced by just 40 grams of Helium-3. And just eight tons of Helium-3 in fusion reactors would provide the equivalent energy of one billion tons of coal, dramatically reducing transportation costs and protecting the environment.
Is Helium-3 worth going to the Moon?
The answer is helium-3, a gas that’s extremely rare on Earth but 100 million times more abundant on the Moon. However, mining helium-3 could be useful now, because of its non-energy applications. A major one is its ability to detect neutrons coming from plutonium that could be used in terrorist attacks.
Is helium used for energy?
In today’s nuclear reactors, the hydrogen isotopes tritium and deuterium are used as fuel, with atomic energy released when they fuse to create Helium and a neutron. Nuclear fusion reactors using Helium could therefore provide a very efficient form of nuclear power with virtually no waste and no radiation by-products.
Is it possible to use helium 3 as a fuel?
Despite the major obstacles, “there may be some chances to use helium-3 as a second-generation fuel,” fusion physicist John Wright of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tells OpenMind. However, for Wright, vast improvements in fusion technology will still be needed “before we have to worry about mining.”
What can helium 3 be used for on the Moon?
In 1986, scientists at the Institute of Fusion Technology at the University of Wisconsin estimated that the lunar “soil”, called the regolith, contains one million tons of helium-3 (He), a material that could be used as fuel to produce energy by nuclear fusion.
Is it possible to make fusion with helium 3?
“Helium-3 has no relevance for fusion,” stresses Close to OpenMind; “Nothing has changed in the laws of physics since my 2007 article.” Although the physicist believes it is possible for us to see the development of lunar mining, “there is no point in going to the Moon for helium-3 if your goal is to make fusion.”
Is it profitable to extract helium from the Moon?
According to the study, mining it would be a profitable undertaking: the energy produced by the helium-3 would be 250 times greater than that needed to extract this resource from the Moon and transport it to Earth, where the lunar reserves of helium-3 could supply human needs for centuries.