Nuclear fusion technology

Interaction between energetic deuterium or tritium and wall materials such as graphite has been studied intensively in relation to nuclear fusion technology. For example, Okuno and coworkers (Morimoto and Okuno 2003 Oyaidzu et al. 2003) showed that deuterium implanted in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite revealed two kinds of C-D bonding (in sp and sp hybrid orbitals) as inspected by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). 

The future of bthium development is closely bnked with the development of bghtweight lithium aluminum alloys, the use of bthium metal anodes in secondary batteries for both automotive and stationary appbcations, and finaUy nuclear fusion technology. 

Materials for the first and second walls in TOKAMAK nuclear fusion technology. 

It IS often stated that unclear fusion tvill produce no radioactive hazard, but this is not correct. The most likely fuels for a fusion reactor would be deuterium and radioactive tritium, which arc isotopes of hydrogen. Tritium is a gas, and in the event of a leak it could easily be released into the surrounding environment. The fusion of deuterium and tritium produces neutrons, which would also make the reactor building itself somewhat radioactive. However, the radioactivity produced in a fusion reactor would be much shorter-lived than that from a fission reactor. Although the thermonuclear weapons (that use nuclear fusion), first developed in the 1950s provided the impetus for tremendous worldwide research into nuclear fusion, the science and technology required to control a fusion reaction and develop a commercial fusion reactor are probably still decades away. 

High-temperature nuclear-fusion reactors may some day be practical as renewable sources of energy for hydrogen production, but they are most likely many years away. Typically, over 100 million degrees F temperatures are required for nuclear fusion to occur and this technology, while under development, is not expected to be commercially viable in the near future. 

The production of 10 TW of nuclear power with the available nuclear fission technology will require the construction of a new 1 GWe nuclear fission plant every day for the next 50 years. If this level of deployment would be reached, the known terrestrial uranium resources will be depleted in 10 years [3], Breeder reactor technology should be developed and used. Fusion nuclear power could give an inexhaustible energy source, but currently no exploitable fusion technology is available and the related technological issues are extremely hard to solve. 

I he fossil fuels currently available to us are limited. At present rates of con-X sumption, known recoverable oil and gas reserves will disappear by the end of the century and coal reserves several centuries after that. Furthermore, burning fossil fuels adds undesirable amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Nuclear fission reactors do not emit greenhouse gases, but they generate massive quantities of radioactive wastes. Nuclear fusion reactors offer many potential benefits, but it may take many decades before they are both technologically and economically feasible. So what do we do ... 

There are great technological hurdles to overcome in creating an economically viable nuclear fusion power plant. Countries, therefore, are teaming up to develop nuclear fusion energy so as to pool their financial and intellectual resources. 

Fusion reactions can take place only if the reacting nuclei possess sufficiently high energies to overcome their mutual Coulomb repulsion and to approach within the range of nuclear forces, hence they are favored by high temperatures. See also Nuclear Power Technology. 

THERMONUCLEAR FUSION REACTORS. See Lithium Nuclear Power Technology. 

The saga of cold fusion, more properly called low-energy nuclear reactions, has a fascinating history in the United States. A few years after the initial announcement of the discovery of cold fusion, this author had collected over 3000 papers from over 200 laboratories in exactly 30 countries. Over 600 of these papers reported successful replications or improvements on the original Fleischmann-Pons discovery [34]. However, due to a well-conceived, well-funded, and well-conducted effort by adherents to the hot-fusion technology, cold fusion in the U.S. has been discredited [35]. 

Rovner, L. H., Chen, K. Y., Chin, J. Proc. ANL Topical Meeting on the Technology of Controlled Nuclear Fusion. Santa Fe 1978... 

Nuclear fusion does not require uranium fuel and does not produce radioactive waste, and has no risk of explosive radiation-releasing accidents, but it takes place at a temperature of several million degrees. Nuclear fusion occurs in the sun, its fuel is hydrogen and, as such, it is an inexhaustible and a clean energy source. The problem with this technology is that, because it operates at several million degrees of temperature, its development is extremely expensive, and it will take at least until 2050 before the first fusion power plant can be built (Tokomak fusion test reactors). It is estimated that it will be 50 times more expensive than a regular power plant, and its safety is unpredictable. In short, the only safe and inexpensive fusion reactor is the Sun ... 

Development and use of technology that is already theoretically available 50 TW wind power 12 TW geothermal nuclear fusion and widespread, efficient, cheap solar cells, and artificial photosynthesis. 

---