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Our current technology/methods produce as part of the reaction an over-abundance of energetic neutrons that fairly quickly degrade the reactor walls to the point where the walls either have to be completely replaced (dangerous, expensive, time consuming) or the reactor shut down, obviously another bad option. Using Helium 3 as the nucler "fuel" massively reduces this neutron stream thus making the reactor a longer term / lower maintenance unit.
I believe the comment was also made that the half life of waste products produced by helium 3 reaction processes in measured in years, not millennia.
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