Scalable, Aneutronic-Fusion Energy

Most people believe that nuclear fusion will eventually become a source of unlimited, clean-electric power. Elements of this vision emerged nearly a century ago, stimulating the active engagement of the plasma-physics research community. Integrated over the past half-century sizable investments have been made in "core" fusion concepts, with the rate of discovery accelerating over the past few decades, coincident with the formation of many dozens of private enterprises and enhanced government support for the development of a commercial-power plant.   

A critical metric is referred to as "scientific breakeven", where the energy produced exceeds the energy used to heat the fuel.  Experiments indicate that breakeven has been exceeded, however, the output energy levels are far too small for a viable reactor concept, with significant technical and economic obstacles remaining.  

Power plants built based upon current designs would face unprecedented challenges, in terms of the high probability for single-point failures;  an insufficient supply of the hydrogen fuel source isotope (i.e., tritium) which  needs to be "manufactured"; an unprecedented power-density at the  "first-wall" which depends on the use of advanced materials that have yet to be demonstrated in the fusion environment; social acceptance of a  largely untested source of radioactive pollution; unprecedented capital investments needed to complete the first generation of installations; and aggressive competition from a mix of alternative, energy-producing technologies that is rapidly evolving to lower cost. 

These limitations are being addressed, even as the  fusion reactor's technical requirements and system components have yet to be defined. To be sure, this requires rigorous development and testing which is likely to take considerable time. Only now does it appear that the world's first reactor-scale concept appear to be near completion, after several decades of effort  Thus, considering the storied past characteristic of nuclear fission, one can't help but be skeptical, even with expert assurances from the communities that these issues will be solved.

Perhaps the two most critically important considerations that will determine the ultimate viability of any fusion concept, relate to its use of a non-radioactive fuel in a scalable-system design. Fortunately, there exist several, completely aneutronic-fusion fuel cycles for which there is  minimal radioactivity,  the fuel sources are plentiful, and low cost. 

On other hand,  scalability refers to a reactor design that is capable of producing a wide range of output power, for example, in the range of MWs  to many 10's of GW; achieved without simply adding large numbers of individual power units. If fusion power could be produced efficiently at small scale, then it would enable a multitude of applications in transportation, manufacturing, off-grid living (planet earth and elsewhere), etc. 

Although the above issues are challenging, fusion's potential impact as a largely non-polluting, ubiqutious energy source is too great to ignore.  Fortunately, with such grandiose opportunities, there appears to be a significant amount of interest in new, potentially disruptive concepts. Our team is actively working on one such solution in a new confinement geometry, along with new methods to heat the plasma fuel. Our innovative approach will benefit from the participation of additional collaborators to help make this vision a reality.  Success is these endeavors could play an imporant role in preserving our precious future, by saving the planet as we have known it.