Terraform cycler asteroids, part 6

Speculation alert

I had to go back and edit some of these in this series so that it will have the speculation alert at the top.  That's because I'm talking out my ass, which is a bad habit.

Now that the mea culpa is out of the way, I've come to realize that using LFTRs in space may not be so easy. That's because even though gravity can help make it work the same way as on Earth, you still have all the other problems associated with weightlessness and space. Which means in the context of the LFTRs, what do you do with the reaction products?

You could send it out as a waste stream in the rocket exhaust.  But you had better not do that anywhere close to Earth, nor in the path of where you may be going next.

Even if that objection can be handled, you still have a mass problem.  You would have to make the reaction products into a plasma and collect the fluorine gas, because you need that for your LFTR operation.  That would entail extra equipment.  Now, the VASIMR does the plasma part as a matter of course, but remember that these are radioactive particles, so that's a concern.  If that objection could be handled, then maybe you still have something practical.

As a part of the recycling effort, you will have to have something that will convert solids into plasma.  Then they can be condensed back into solids and recombined in any way that is convenient.  Could you do this with reaction products?  Probably not easily, but maybe you can.  Most of the mass of the reaction products turn out to be strontium and cesium.  These may be useful an energy sources for space in the same way that plutonium is used.

Xenon is produced as well.  This can be kept for a short time while it decays into stability.  Unfortunately, a lot of the mass won't be stable for years, so you have to find a way to deal with the stuff that isn't.  You could get rid of it, or you will have to store it some way so that it isn't a threat to crew.

This may not be a problem at an asteroid, as there would be plenty of shielding matter available.  But my idea was to use a LFTR to get to the asteroid as well.

Update:

Next in Series, Part 7