Radiation Leaks

[Sirbomber]

Tokamaks produce large amounts of radiation, which is why they should be located far away from your colony.  So if they're damaged, wouldn't some of that radiation leak from the Tokamak and damage nearby structures/units, spreading over time (like a kind of really slow, non-fatal Blight that could be cleaned up) until the Tokamak was either repaired, idled, or destroyed?

For structures, the effect of the radiation could vary depending on how much of the building is in the radioactive area.  One fourth = slow degeneration like a Tokamak, one half = increased degeneration, people in the building start dying from radiation poisoning (nullified with Med Center + Med Center upgrade), three fourths or more = further increased degeneration, structure disabled (only for structures containing people; Tokamaks, Guard Posts, etc., will continue to function).  The effects of degeneration can be reduced (but not eliminated) with research.

Of course, it does come with the problem of "radiation doesn't just magically disappear after a few days" but it is a futuristic game after all; maybe the Earthworker has something that can clean up and safely dispose of radioactive waste.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that idled power plants shouldn't release an EMP blast unless they were recently idled (IE they have a "Shutdown" timer before they fully idle, if they are reactivated during this Shutdown sequence they must wait half of the remaining shutdown time to reactivate the power plant [so people can't just idle their Tokamaks when they're being attacked and reactivate when the danger is past]).
[size=0]Let's see how long it takes for people to realize this is a parody of Combine's ideas. Though that is kinda mean...[/size]

[Brazilian Fan]

Fusion reactors don't create radiation like Fission reactors. The only subproduct of a fusion reaction is helium. The fuel used by a Tokamak (Fusion power plant) is pure hydrogen. Neither of those elements are radioactive. The only dangers from fusion power plants are: magnetic field malfunction and chamber breach, both of them liberate plasma on very hight temperatures.

So, no radiation

[Psudomorph]

EDIT: Wow, they don't even produce radiation... Disregard this post.

If I recall correctly, radiation would indeed disappear when the source was eliminated (As in the damaged tokamak being repaired). The only way it would persist would be if actual radioactive waste leaked out. I don't know if tokamaks even produce radioactive waste at all, and even if they do, it would be more difficult for degradation to release said waste then it would be for weakened shielding to cause a radiation leak.

I don't really know enough about nuclear fusion to be able to say much more, just wanted to make the point that the radiation itself wouldn't necessarily persist any more than light persists after its source is gone.

[Sirbomber]

Hm, really?

The Tokamak Reactor harnesses powerful and violent forces, not only nuclear, but magnetic.

I've always assumed nuclear to be synonimous with radiation. Maybe not?

It really doesn't matter what leaks; it's obviously fatal to humans.

Suddenly, lights began to flash, and a warning siren sounded.  Scratch jumped at the noise, and his tough act vanished; he looked ready to bolt.  "What's that?  Something wrong with the reactor?"
"Containment breach," said Kelso.  "Bad."
"Should we run?"
Kelso just stared at the man.  "No time," he said.

[Psudomorph]

Hm, really?

The Tokamak Reactor harnesses powerful and violent forces, not only nuclear, but magnetic.

I've always assumed nuclear to be synonimous with radiation. Maybe not?

It really doesn't matter what leaks; it's obviously fatal to humans.

Suddenly, lights began to flash, and a warning siren sounded.  Scratch jumped at the noise, and his tough act vanished; he looked ready to bolt.  "What's that?  Something wrong with the reactor?"
"Containment breach," said Kelso.  "Bad."
"Should we run?"
Kelso just stared at the man.  "No time," he said.

I think the main reason they are located away from colonies is the fact that in the case of a containment breach (As described in the story) the whole thing explodes.

[Brazilian Fan]

Hm, really?

The Tokamak Reactor harnesses powerful and violent forces, not only nuclear, but magnetic.

I've always assumed nuclear to be synonimous with radiation. Maybe not?

It really doesn't matter what leaks; it's obviously fatal to humans.

Suddenly, lights began to flash, and a warning siren sounded.  Scratch jumped at the noise, and his tough act vanished; he looked ready to bolt.  "What's that?  Something wrong with the reactor?"
"Containment breach," said Kelso.  "Bad."
"Should we run?"
Kelso just stared at the man.  "No time," he said.

Nuclear is beacause it works by manipulating exclusively atoms.

Fission: It works by breaking a very heavy element, like uranium or plutonium. Uses radioactive elements and have a radioactive subproduct.
Fusion: It works by combining two hydrogen atoms, producing a helium atom. Don't uses radioactive elements and don't have a radioactive subproduct.

[CK9]

Nuclear reaction just means, in essence, a reaction with the nucleus of an atom.

[TRIX Rabbit]

This is probably why fusion power is such a huge goal for scientists, they want to create a power source as good (or better, power-wise) than fission, which has radioactive byproducts that have to be disposed of efficiently and effectivly, with upmost caution.

The likelihood of a catastrophic accident in a fusion reactor in which injury or loss of life occurs is much smaller than that of a fission reactor. The primary reason is that the fuel contained in the reaction chamber is only enough to sustain the reaction for about a minute, whereas a fission reactor contains about a year's supply of fuel. Furthermore, fusion requires very extreme and precisely controlled conditions of temperature, pressure and magnetic field parameters. If the reactor were damaged, these would be disrupted and the reaction would rapidly extinguish.

Although the plasma in a fusion power plant will have a volume of 1000 cubic meters or more, the density of the plasma is extremely low, and the total amount of fusion fuel in the vessel is very small. If the fuel supply is closed, the reaction stops within seconds. Fusion is not a chain reaction and therefore cannot run out of hand: under normal conditions, the fusion process runs at the fastest possible rate, and any deviation from this optimum leads to a decrease in energy production.

     -wikipedia

In simple terms, the worst that could happen in fusion is the reactor becomes damaged severely by insability, wheras a fission reactor has the potential to become a nuclear explosion, or more likely, an explosion that spreads radiation.

[Betaray]

I think by now it has become clear that fusion will not cause radiation leaks like fission can.

topic closed