From Dick Hazelwood
I found your article on fusion encouraging. At last there seems to be progress in investigating what could become a vital world resource if the pros outweigh the cons (12 November, p 52). But the article did not give details of the vital reactions needed to create the tritium fuel in the lithium blanket. It is clear that a neutron can react with a lithium-6 atom to produce two deuterium atoms and one tritium. But natural lithium is mostly lithium-7, not lithium-6. What happens to the extra neutron? Is this released or recycled somehow?
The editor writes:
• Lithium-7 also produces deuterium, tritium and an extra neutron. In an ideal design, this extra neutron is then captured by another lithium-6. Almost all the blanket designs are enriched with lithium-6 to enhance tritium production.
Guildford, Surrey, UK
