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Nuclear fusion: Difference between revisions
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== Fusion as an energy option == | == Fusion as an energy option == | ||
Fusion undoubtedly offers some important advantages. Once operative, energy supply would be virtually limitless; greenhouse gas exhaust would be zero; nuclear waste and the danger of nuclear accidents would be strongly reduced (with respect to fission power plants), and nuclear proliferation problems would be small or non-existent. On the other hand, there are complications due to the very complex technology required and the radioactive activation of the reactor vessel components. | Fusion undoubtedly offers some important advantages. | ||
<ref>F.F. Chen, ''An Indispensable Truth: How Fusion Power Can Save the Planet'', ISBN 1441978194</ref> | |||
Once operative, energy supply would be virtually limitless; greenhouse gas exhaust would be zero; nuclear waste and the danger of nuclear accidents would be strongly reduced (with respect to fission power plants), and nuclear proliferation problems would be small or non-existent. On the other hand, there are complications due to the very complex technology required and the radioactive activation of the reactor vessel components. | |||
A significant part of the latter complications are due to the projected use of D-T fuels (deuterium-tritium) in the first-generation fusion power plants, which is the fuel that is easiest to ignite, but which leads to intense neutron radiation. One may speculate that, if successful, a second generation of fusion power plants can be developed that runs on other fuel mixtures (such as D-D), leading to a reduction of the problems associated with radioactivity. | A significant part of the latter complications are due to the projected use of D-T fuels (deuterium-tritium) in the first-generation fusion power plants, which is the fuel that is easiest to ignite, but which leads to intense neutron radiation. One may speculate that, if successful, a second generation of fusion power plants can be developed that runs on other fuel mixtures (such as D-D), leading to a reduction of the problems associated with radioactivity. | ||