A Power-Producing Fusion Reactor Using Presently Available Components

Abstract

Summary form only given, as follows. The problem with fusion reactors today is that they do not produce appreciably more power than they consume to maintain the plasma. However, this problem may be solved by considering the total fusion cycle. In the present concept, deuterium is fused with tritium to create about 17 MeV of energy per fusion. The tritium is to be regenerated by using the reaction n+/sup 6/Li=T+/sup 4/He. However, only one tritium atom is produced for every tritium atom consumed, so some neutron multiplying mechanism is required to overcome the inevitable losses in the neutron and tritium handling processes. In the present fusion concept, this neutron multiplication occurs in a spallation neutron source between the fusion neutron source and the tritium producing blanket. My observation is that this spallation neutron source can be used to augment the energy produced in the fusion power plant.