Ah, yes, I was kind of thinking you might bring up that argument, and let me simply start off by saying that I'm not trying to pick apart your nation's tech or say you can't have something because it's better than something else.

((Take into account, that I am by no means an expert in the field of Physics, Quantum Physics, or Nuclear Theory, that all opinions stated here are based upon my own observations and research, and therefore are subject to being countered by actual experts.))

I'll touch base with the actual topic at hand first, before I get to the point you made at the end of your post. Xalium is, correct me if I'm wrong, a completely fictional material, with no basis in the real world. While yes, the genre is Science-[b][i]Fiction[/i][/b], the difference between Sci-Fi and standard fiction is the emphasis on the Science aspect, and of the adherence to real science for hard sci-fi, and less so for soft sci-fi. Regardless of either hard or soft sci-fi, there are still certain fundamental principles that are upheld, and that is foremost the Conservation of Mass principle, which from what I read, the Xalium17(or 18 even) reactor disregards by annihilating the atoms of the element and creating nuclear energy via the resulting explosion. The only known occurrence of total destruction to the atomic level, is found in the collisions of matter and antimatter particles, which create tremendous amounts of energy that far outstrip what our fission/fusion reactors can produce. To have an element fundamentally on par with antimatter, be a stable isotope(Since you don't specify otherwise) and be abundant enough to base your entire nation's energy reserves upon, seems to me to break far and away from what we already have established.

To get on point with the other topic you brought up, on saying that we can't apply current day logic to something which doesn't exist.... No, it doesn't work like that. I could easily do the same with the Synchronicity and say that the methods they use to harvest antimatter and harness the energy of the reactions is something beyond our current comprehension, but I don't. I don't do this, because there needs to be a certain amount of realism to things. Once you go beyond the scope of our current logical thought processes, you start to dive into the realm of the unreal, and things that we can't fathom. I think, from my previous discussions with Traveler, that that is a realm that we are staying out of, as the scope of the RP is quite a bit more limited than that. Keeping things within the scope of our current logical thinking is the only thing preventing someone from going off the deep-end into things that really have no place in this RP. Not saying that's what you've done, not at all. Just saying that it opens the door to some bad juju.

To get back to the Xalium element, is there anything else you can say about it that may make things more realistic, and alleviate concerns? Things like whether or not it is a stable isotope, how it is found in its natural form, if it's even found in nature, and things that would help to make it seem less of a "Hey, we got this thing." and more of a "Look, man we got some really cool shit over here, let me tell you all about it.". Basically, the more you describe it and give it an actual identity, the less people would really have to say about it, because you would have already answered their questions before they had to ask them =D

Also. Apologies I wasn't able to respond earlier, as I was at work and would not have been able to respond with a post that actually addresses your own post.

Also. I feel like I ranted at you, which was not at all the intention D: My bad if that's the impression you get from long-post, as that's not at all the tone I'm trying to convey.