Fusion Energy Will Help Treat Cancer ⚡ экспресс
Neutrons from deuterium-tritium fusion can transform stable elements into dozens of medical radioisotopes, including the widely used technetium-99m and promising actinium-225. These nuclear transmutations proceed without fission, altering the nuclear charge, which allows chemically isolating a pure product. The approach is flexible, proliferation-safe, and capable of providing isotopes worldwide: a source with just a few megawatts of power could meet global demand for most key radioisotopes, replacing an entire network of aging reactors.
Deep inside stars, light nuclei fuse, giving birth to helium and streams of neutrons. On Earth, we recreate this process by combining deuterium and tritium—special isotopes of hydrogen. When they merge, neutrons are born, which, like a philosopher’s stone, turn stable elements into precious radioactive isotopes—the basis for cancer diagnosis and therapy. These transformations follow the Standard Model of physics.
The method leaves no long-lived waste, and the desired isotope is extracted chemically. The idea traces back to the experiments of Enrico Fermi and Ernest Rutherford, who nearly a hundred years ago first altered atomic nuclei with neutrons. Astonishingly, to meet the global demand for technetium-99m (30 million procedures annually), the neutrons from a desk-sized device would suffice. Moreover, the technology doesn’t use weapons-grade materials, eliminating the proliferation risk.
🎯 Iodine-131, produced in such a source, selectively destroys thyroid cancer. [tag:spectroscopy]Spectroscopy[/tag] lets doctors watch the process in real time.