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Gerald Kulcinski has a big problem.
The nuclear engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin needs a rare element to fuel his research into a fusion reactor.
But the cost of the isotope -- helium-3 -- is rising faster than a rocket headed to space. A few years ago it was $1,000 a gram, this year it is $7,000 and next year, well, he assumes it will be tens of thousands of dollars.
There are only about 30 kilograms of 3He on Earth, Kulcinski said. Most helium-3 comes as a byproduct of tritium, used in nuclear weapons, so the exact figure is secret.
Governments covet helium-3 because it works well in sensors that detect the presence of nuclear material, such as the ones that scan incoming cargo at the nation's borders and ports.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/07/21/mining.moon.helium3/index.html
The nuclear engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin needs a rare element to fuel his research into a fusion reactor.
But the cost of the isotope -- helium-3 -- is rising faster than a rocket headed to space. A few years ago it was $1,000 a gram, this year it is $7,000 and next year, well, he assumes it will be tens of thousands of dollars.
There are only about 30 kilograms of 3He on Earth, Kulcinski said. Most helium-3 comes as a byproduct of tritium, used in nuclear weapons, so the exact figure is secret.
Governments covet helium-3 because it works well in sensors that detect the presence of nuclear material, such as the ones that scan incoming cargo at the nation's borders and ports.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/07/21/mining.moon.helium3/index.html
