Katerina Swanson
Fusion power is a promising energy source that could provide more energy per weight of fuel than any other fuel-consuming energy source. The fuel for fusion, primarily deuterium, is abundant in seawater, and tritium, another fuel source, can be produced from fusion-generated neutrons reacting with lithium, which is also abundant in seawater. However, there are concerns about the sustainability of breeding tritium, and some fusion efforts have opted to use other fuel sources such as plain hydrogen and boron or deuterium and helium-3. While fusion promises an abundant and efficient energy source, challenges remain in developing a device that can heat the fuel to a high enough temperature and sustain the reaction.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Fuel required for fusion to power the US | 1 kilogram of fusion fuel could provide the same amount of energy as 10 million kilograms of fossil fuel. A 1 Gigawatt fusion power station will need less than one tonne of fuel during a year's operation. |
| Fuel type | Deuterium and tritium (hydrogen atoms with extra neutrons) |
| Fuel source | Deuterium can be extracted inexpensively from seawater. Tritium can be produced from the reaction of fusion-generated neutrons with naturally abundant lithium. |
| Fuel cycle | First-generation fusion plants are expected to use the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle. |
| Fuel state | Plasma |
| Fuel atom requirements | Fuel atoms must be supplied with enough kinetic energy to approach one another closely enough for the strong force to overcome the electrostatic repulsion. |
| Fuel atom temperature | Atoms must be heated to extremely high temperatures (over 100 million degrees Celsius) to produce energy from fusion. |
| Fuel atom compression | A powerful electrical pulse is passed through a set of fine tungsten wires inside a metal hohlraum, forcing the vaporized particles to collide with each other. |
| Fuel atom confinement | Fuel atoms must be confined within a small space to increase the chances of collision. |
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What You'll Learn
Fusion fuel is abundant and easily accessible
Another fuel considered for fusion power is tritium, which is the other isotope of hydrogen. Naturally occurring tritium is extremely rare, but it can potentially be produced through the reaction of fusion-generated neutrons with naturally abundant lithium. This process is known as tritium breeding, and it is hoped that fusion reactors can breed their own tritium. However, tritium self-sufficiency is challenging due to the difficulty of containing tritium, which has a tendency to permeate the metal walls of a reactor and escape through tiny gaps.
Lithium is also a fuel source for fusion power, and it is used in the breeding of tritium. While it is not known how long global lithium supplies will last, it is estimated that known current lithium reserves would last 3000 years. Lithium from seawater would last much longer, at 60 million years, but obtaining lithium from seawater would be very costly and might require more energy than the energy that would be generated.
Other potential fuel sources for fusion power include helium-3, which is a rare helium isotope that is practically non-existent on Earth, and boron, which has been proposed as a fuel for hybrid fusion systems. While fusion fuel is abundant and easily accessible, there are challenges associated with fuel breeding and containment, particularly for tritium, and uncertainties regarding the long-term availability of certain fuel sources, such as lithium.
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Deuterium can be extracted from seawater
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would harness the energy released by nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy. The fuel for this process is an isotope of hydrogen called deuterium, which can be found in seawater. In fact, about 1 in 6500 hydrogen atoms in seawater is deuterium.
Deuterium is sometimes referred to as heavy hydrogen because it is a heavier isotope of hydrogen with an additional neutron. It was discovered in 1913 by Dr. Harold Urey, who received the Nobel Prize for his work in 1934. Despite its structural stability, extracting deuterium is challenging. The process involves chemically treating saltwater to obtain heavy water (D2O), which contains deuterium atoms.
The abundance of seawater and the presence of deuterium make it an attractive fuel source for fusion power. First-generation fusion plants are expected to use a deuterium-tritium fuel cycle, which will require lithium for breeding tritium. However, the long-term goal is to achieve a deuterium-deuterium reaction, which is more challenging due to the higher temperatures required.
Extracting deuterium from seawater offers a potentially sustainable fuel source for fusion power. While the extraction process is intricate, the vast availability of seawater suggests that fusion could meet the world's energy needs for millions of years. However, it is important to note that fusion technology is still in development, and challenges remain in making it a viable source of energy.
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Tritium can be produced from lithium
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy. This process requires fuel in a state of plasma and a confined environment with sufficient temperature, pressure, and confinement time.
The fuel for fusion power is primarily deuterium, which is abundant in seawater. About 1 in 6500 hydrogen atoms in seawater is deuterium, implying that fusion could supply the world's energy needs for millions of years. The first generation of fusion plants is expected to use the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle.
Tritium, or hydrogen-3, is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of around 12.3 years. It is produced naturally in very small amounts in the upper atmosphere by the action of cosmic rays. However, it can also be produced artificially by irradiating lithium or lithium-bearing ceramic pebbles in a nuclear reactor. This process, known as tritium breeding, is essential for fusion power as tritium is difficult to obtain and contains.
The production of tritium from lithium can occur through several methods. One method involves the irradiation of rods containing lithium at nuclear reactors, followed by the extraction of tritium from the rods. Another method uses breeder ceramics, which can be pebbles consisting of lithium-bearing ceramics such as Li2TiO3 and Li4SiO4. High-energy neutrons can be used to produce tritium from lithium-7 in an endothermic reaction, while lower-energy neutrons can be used with lithium-6 in an exothermic reaction that yields 4.8 MeV.
While tritium breeding is challenging, it is necessary to sustain fusion power. The success of tritium breeding will determine whether fusion power can become a viable source of energy in the future.
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The challenges of tritium breeding
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. The fuel (primarily deuterium) exists abundantly in the ocean: about 1 in 6500 hydrogen atoms in seawater is deuterium. First-generation fusion plants are expected to use the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle. This will require the use of lithium for breeding of the tritium.
Tritium self-sufficiency is extremely challenging, not least because tritium is difficult to contain. Tritium has leaked from 48 of 65 nuclear sites in the US. Tritium is notorious for permeating the metal walls of a reactor and escaping through tiny gaps. If reactors can be made to operate using only deuterium fuel, then the tritium replenishment issue is eliminated. However, the probabilities of deuterium-deuterium reactions are about 20 times lower than for deuterium-tritium. Additionally, the temperature needed is about three times higher than for deuterium-tritium.
To make breeding sustainable, operators will also need to control tritium leaks. In a recent simulation, a power-producing reactor could only produce slightly more tritium than it needs to fuel itself. Tritium leakages or prolonged maintenance shutdowns will eat away at that narrow margin. A breeding blanket is a device used in nuclear engineering to transmute quantities of an element, using the neutron flux from a fission reactor or fusion reactor. Blankets containing lithium are referred to as breeding blankets. A future fusion plant producing large amounts of power will be required to "breed" all of its own tritium.
ITER will be the first fusion device to test this essential concept of tritium self-sustainment. Further research will be necessary to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale tritium production and recycling. Six different tritium breeding systems, known as Test Blanket Modules (TBM) will be tested in ITER. The most common method for lithium enrichment is the chemical COLEX process. A liquid blanket proposes a molten material containing lithium. One suggestion is a lithium-lead mixture, as lead experiences neutron-doubling spallation in the presence of 14 MeV fusion neutrons.
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The need for high temperatures
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy. The fuel (primarily deuterium) exists abundantly in the ocean, about 1 in 6500 hydrogen atoms in seawater is deuterium.
First-generation fusion plants are expected to use the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle. This requires temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees Celsius. To achieve these temperatures, three separate heating systems are usually used in tokamaks, each delivering well over a million watts of power to the fuel. Together, they generate and sustain plasma that is hot enough for the high-energy collisions required for fusion to occur.
The challenge is to develop a device that can heat the D-T fuel to a high enough temperature and confine it long enough so that more energy is released through fusion reactions than is used to initiate the reaction. While the D-T reaction is the main focus of attention, long-term hopes are for a D-D reaction, but this requires much higher temperatures. The temperature needed for a D-D reaction is about three times higher than for D-T.
The high temperatures give the hydrogen atoms enough energy to overcome the electrical repulsion between the protons. Fusion requires temperatures of about 100 million Kelvin, approximately six times hotter than the sun's core. At these temperatures, hydrogen is a plasma, not a gas. Plasma is a high-energy state of matter in which all the electrons are stripped from atoms and move freely about.
To achieve these temperatures, energy from microwaves, lasers, and ion particles is used. High pressure squeezes the hydrogen atoms together. They must be within 1x10^-15 meters of each other to fuse.
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Frequently asked questions
The amount of fuel needed for fusion to power the US is currently unknown. However, it is estimated that a 1-gigawatt fusion power station will need less than one tonne of fuel during a year's operation.
Fusion fuel is a combination of hydrogen gases—deuterium and tritium. Deuterium can be extracted from water, and tritium can be produced from the reaction of fusion-generated neutrons with lithium.
The fusion process involves heating a combination of hydrogen gases to very high temperatures (over 100 million degrees Celsius). The gas becomes a plasma, and the nuclei combine to form a helium nucleus and a neutron, with a tiny fraction of the mass converted into 'fusion' energy.
Fusion power has several benefits, including:
- No carbon emissions
- Abundant fuels
- Energy efficiency
- Less radioactive waste than fission
- Safety
- Reliable power
The development of fusion power is currently in the experimental stage, with the world's largest international fusion facility, ITER, aiming to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy production. A prototype of a fusion reactor (DEMO) is expected to be built by 2040, and a consensus among experts suggests that an electricity-producing fusion power plant could be operational by 2050.
