4,378
edits
Nuclear fusion: Difference between revisions
→Fusion as an energy option
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
== 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 | 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 inexistent. 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 aneutronic fuels (such as D-D), leading to a strong 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 aneutronic fuels (such as D-D), leading to a strong reduction of the problems associated with radioactivity. | ||