“The tungsten absorbs 8 percent of the runaway electrons, while the remaining 92 percent is bounced or scattered out of orbit and beyond the risk of damaging the reactor,” asserted the LANL.

Moreover, the simulations reveal that the tungsten particles remain within the reactor for a significantly longer time than the runaway electrons.

“Lively found that runaways tend to orbit the reactor for just 130 nanoseconds while the tungsten particles have a lifespan of 100,000 nanoseconds,” remarked the press release.

This means a single injection of tungsten particles could provide prolonged protection against multiple runaway electron events, enhancing the efficiency and practicality of this approach.