NUCLEAR FUSION FUELS FOR THE

FUTUREJodi CrookshankExcelsior College

June 12, 2016

Deuterium-Tritium fuel Currently Deuterium-tritium fuel is being

utilized in the test reactors for nuclear fusion.

The chemistry make up for the reaction currently utilized in test reactors looks like this

The Hydrogen-Boron reaction

Amount of Energy in Hydrogen-Boron reaction

Nuclear Fusion reactor challenges

There are a few different ways to go about creating reactors that are needed for nuclear fusion.

For fusion to occur, reactor temperatures would have to be on the order of 200 million degrees Celsius

No material on earth can withstand 200 million degrees without melting

Two basic strategies:1) Magnetic Confinement: Confine the plasma with magnetic fields so that the plasma will not touch the containment walls2) Inertial Confinement: Supply large amounts of energy very quickly (i.e. shoot with lasers) so that the fuel is burned before it has time to expand and touch the walls

Current Fusion reactor

How the ITER generates a magnetic field.

Polywell Nuclear Reactor

Sizing of a Polywell

One more Strange but interesting side note

Conclusion Nuclear fusion Utilizing Hydrogen Boron

fuel is the way of the future. No carbon dioxide emitted to the plant No radioactive waste that needs to be

disposed of No toxic gas produced from tritium