Turning the age-old dream of alchemy into a modern scientific endeavor, the startup Marathon Fusion claims to have developed a groundbreaking theoretical reactor design capable of transmuting mercury into gold. According to the company, their fusion reactor could potentially produce up to 3,000 kilograms of gold per year by converting mercury within a layered neutron blanket—a proposition that promises not just wealth, but advancements in fusion technology.
Located in San Francisco, Marathon Fusion has devised a reactor concept utilizing fast neutrons generated from a 1.5-gigawatt thermal tokamak. The idea is to transform mercury-198 into stable gold-197. This innovative reactor blanket is meticulously structured with layers of mercury and lithium at its core, enveloped by molten lithium-beryllium-fluoride salts. According to simulations, this setup could churn out gold with a market value nearing 180 million euros annually, all without compromising electricity output.
In addition to gold production, the same innovative process would generate tritium, a vital component for deuterium-tritium fusion, by decelerating neutrons which are then captured in lithium, establishing a self-sustaining fuel cycle. However, the gold produced would contain trace amounts of radioactive gold-198, necessitating a 14-year decay period before it could be commercially viable.
While the nuclear reactions proposed by Marathon Fusion carry scientific plausibility, the entire concept remains in the realm of theory. The feasibility of producing gold at scale through this method hinges on developing a functional commercial fusion reactor—something that remains unverified to date. If successful, this groundbreaking method could draw considerable attention from energy investors and the advanced materials sector.
Despite the alluring possibilities, this research is still based solely on simulation and has not been subject to peer review or physical trials. The potential implications of such a technological feat have yet to be economically and technically validated, leaving much to explore and prove in the future.
