On Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 7:36 AM, Foks0904 . <foks0...@gmail.com> wrote:
... whatever is producing the tritium has got to be a strange reaction
> pathway as well, because its certainly not commensurate with the excess
> heat either.
>
I'm wondering whether tritium might occur through reactions such as the
following:
n + 6Li → t + 4He + Q (4.78 MeV)
If there were a very small number of neutrons arising from spallations, you
might get some tritium through channels such as these. The neutrons would
be the gating factor, and if there are very few of them, you would even
fewer reactions like this, as most neutrons would not encounter a lithium
atom, and most lithium atoms would be 7Li rather than 6Li.
I believe Ed would strongly disagree with this analysis, objecting that
tritium has been seen when there is no lithium. But as in the previous
case, I would want to closely examine such a statement. Ed would also say
that any 3He found is a daughter of such tritium, which seems reasonable.
Eric
