Gerald Kulcinski has a big problem.
Via Climate-news.com
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.
“Worldwide demand is very high, the supply is fixed and going down, and those of us who are trying using helium-3 for research purposes are paying very high prices,” said Kulcinski, who is the director of the Fusion Technology Institute. “It’ll basically shut off university activity pretty soon because we won’t be able to afford it.”
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