[Jonty30]

Almost identical, it seems.

Comparison
Mercury-200: Total binding energy ≈ 1571.89 MeV, B/A ≈ 7.86 MeV/nucleon
Gold-197: Total binding energy ≈ 1548.95 MeV, B/A ≈ 7.86 MeV/nucleon
The binding energy per nucleon for both Hg-200 and Au-197 is nearly identical at ~7.86 MeV/nucleon, indicating similar nuclear stability per nucleon. However, Hg-200 has a slightly higher total binding energy due to its larger number of nucleons (200 vs. 197).

[grey_whiskers]

Now tell me how many nucleons are in a gram. Multiply that by 23 MeV per nucleons.

That’s the energy released when turning a gram of Mercury into gold.

Is this something which can be reasonably handled / dissipated by the reaction vessel?

(What is the conversion *rate* in nucleons / sec) ?