Take these numbers with a grain of salt because I got them by chatting with AIs, but if you're producing electricity from HALEU, then centrifuges require reinvesting <1% of the output, whereas historical calutrons required 200% (useless) and modern technology could potentially bring that down to 10%.

So calutrons will always be less energy efficient than centrifuges, but if the capital cost and construction time is low enough, calutrons might still be economically viable.

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KennyBlanken 2 hours ago | parent [-]

If we wanted to find out what an LLM thought we'd ask the LLM. Don't be a meat proxy.

https://gruhn.me/blog/2026-08-03/

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tmp10423288442 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

But you weren't going to ask the LLM, and now you know something you weren't aware of. Seems no different than someone reporting what they found out in a Google Search, as long as they disclose that they used an LLM (as long as they used one that actually searches the web, but pretty sure even ChatGPT Free does that these days).

	▲	ben_w an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> but pretty sure even ChatGPT Free does that these days). It can do, but won't do so reliably; and the guessing it does if it's not grounding with a search is still like someone in a pub saying "I recon…". Admittedly, a Cambridge pub like the Carlton Arms used to be when I lived there (sometimes I'd be the only one at the table who wasn't studying for a PhD), but still, pub.

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p1mrx 24 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Even if you ignore my LLM numbers, "what percent of a reactor's output must be reinvested to enrich its own fuel?" is a meaningful contribution to the discussion.