Letters to the Editor

Light Speed Day

Chemists celebrate Mole Day annually on October 23 from 6:02 AM to 6:02 PM in honor of Avogadro's number (6.02 x 10²³), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. 10/23 from 6:02 AM to 6:02 PM corresponds to 6.02 * 10²³.

Mathematicians celebrate e-Day annually on February 7 in recognition of the frequently used mathematical constant e, which is equal to 2.718. February 7 expressed numerically as 2/7 looks similar to 2.7. Also, mathematicians celebrate Pi Day annually on March 14 to commemorate the frequently used mathematical constant π, which is equal to 3.1416. March 14 expressed numerically as 3/14 looks similar to 3.14.

I propose that Light Speed Day be celebrated annually on October 8 from 3:00 AM to 3:00 PM to commemorate the frequently used constant for speed of light in a vacuum, c = 3 * 10⁸ m/s. 10/8 from 3:00 AM to 3:00 PM corresponds to 3 * 10⁸ m/s. This uses the same date and time format as Mole Day.

The intent of Light Speed Day is to give physicists something to celebrate and increase awareness of physics concepts among the general public. The constant c is not only the speed of light in a vacuum, but the maximum speed at which conventional matter and all known forms of information can travel in the universe according to special relativity. Although c is commonly associated with the speed of light in a vacuum, it is also the speed at which all massless particles and changes of the associated fields travel in a vacuum. The constant c interrelates space and time in the general and special theories of relativity and is used in the equation of mass-energy equivalence.

Ashu M. G. Solo
Maverick Trailblazers Inc.
amgsolo@mavericktrailblazers.com

Dear Editor:

In the July 2018 issue of the Forum, there was a very interesting article on the transformation to sustainable energy by Yeh. However there is one other carbon free sustainable option which I have been researching for 20 years, fusion breeding. A fast neutron reactor can breed fuel for a thermal reactor, but its breeding rate is low. It would take two fission breeders, at maximum breeding rate, to fuel a single light water reactor (LWR) of equal power. A fusion breeder could potentially breed about 10 times a much fuel, so a single fusion breeder could fuel many LWR's of equal power.

The nuclear cycle could be closed by by using a fast neutron reactor such as the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) to burn the actinide wastes of a large number of thermal reactors of equal power.

I have written a review article on the subject, available open access, in the. fusion literature. It is:

Fusion Breeding for Midcentury Sustainable Power
Wallace Manheimer

Journal of Fusion Energy June 2014 (open access) vol 33, p 199

While I have come from the plasma side of the house, I have attempted to learn the necessary nuclear engineering to give at least a cursory view of the entire system. Figure 15 of the review article shows a schematic of "The Energy Park", the basic building block for a sustainable, carbon free energy infrastructure, which is economically and environmentally viable and has little of no proliferation risk.

Wallace Manheimer
Retired from NRL
wallymanheimer@yahoo.com

These contributions have not been peer-refereed. They represent solely the view(s) of the author(s) and not necessarily the view of APS.