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Controlled Nuclear Fusion. INSTITUTION Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D.C DOCUMENT RESUME ED 107 520 SE 019 209 AUTHOR Glasstone, Samuel TITLE Controlled Nuclear Fusion. INSTITUTION Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D.C. Office of Information Services. PUB DATE 74 NOTE 95p. 'AVAILABLE FROM USAEC Technical Information Center, P.0. Box 62, Oak Ridge, TN 37830 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$4.43 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS *Energy; *Nuclear Physics; Physics; Radioisotopes; *Scientific Research IDENTIFIERS AEC; Atomic Energy Comthission; NuclearReactors ABSTRACT This publication isone of a series of information booklets for the general public publishedby The United States Atomic Energy 'Commission. Among the topics discussedare: Importance of Fusion Energy; Conditions for NuclearFusion; Thermonuclear Reactions in Plasmas; Plasma Confinement byMagnetic Fields; Experiments With Plasmas; -High-Temperature Plasma Studies;Ntciear Fusion Reactors With Magnetic Confinement; InertialConfinement; and Nuclear Fusion Research Programs. A reading list andfree-loan film list are included. Scho-AS and public librariesmay obtain the booklets without charge. (BT) US DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS(TEEN REPRO OUCED EXACTLY ASRECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANQATION ORIGIN ATING IT POIN Tf 0FVIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL REPRE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY ,:t, This is madeavailable by ,, ERDA , Research 7 iUnited States Energy ,:3and DevelopmentAdministration . Center 't, _i" Technical Information c.o. Oak Ridge,TN37830 Nuclear energyis playing a vital role in the life of every man, woman, and child inthe United States today. In the years ahead it will affect increasingly all the peoples of the earth. Itisessentialthatall Americans gain an understanding of this vital force if they are to discharge thoughtfully their responsibilities as citizens and if they are to realize fully the myriad benefits that nuclear energy offers them. The United States' Atomic Energy Com- mission provides this booklet to help you achieve such understanding. I 3 TIlE AUTHOR Samuel Glasstone Ph.D. (1922), D.Sc. (1926)- ,University of London, inPhysical Chemistryholds a preeminent position as a lucid expositor of scientific subject matter. He has written 34 books, sometimes with the cooperation of other scientists. In 1959 the American Society of Mechanical Engineers awarded him the Worcester Reed Warner Medal in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to permanent engineering literature in ... writings on atomic energy "(in 1968 he received the Arthur Holly Compton Award from the American Nuclear Society for "his distinguished contribu- tions to nuclear science and engineering education". Dr. Glasstone's best known book in the nuclear field is Sourcebook on Atomic Energy, first published in 1950 and revised in 1958 and 1967, it is still a best seller. He has also written for scientists and engineers about reactor theory. nuclear engineering, nuclear weapons, and controlled thermo- nuclear research, as wellas various aspects of physical chemistry. 5 IMPORTANCE OF FUSION ENERGY 5 Need for Energy Sources 6 Nuclear Energy 7 Nuclear Fusion Energy 8 CONDITIONS FOR NUCLEAR FUSION 8 Realization of Fusion 9 Requirements for Fusion Reactions 10 Deuterium and Tritium Fusion 13 ,High-EnergyRequirement 14 THERMONUCLEAR REACTIONS IN PLASMAS 14 Thermonuclear Reactions 15 Plasmas. Fourth State of Matter 16 Critical Ignition Temperature 18 PLASMA CONFINEMENTBY MAGNETIC FIELDS 18 Need for Confinement 19 Magnetic Confinement and Plasma Density 21 The Lawson Criterion 22 The Significance of Beta 23 Motion of Plasma Particles in a Magnetic Field 25 Particle Drift in Magnetic Fields 27 Open-ended and Closed Confinement 29 Plasma Diffusion 3i- , Plasma Instabilities 33 Factors Affecting Confinement Times 36EXPERIMENTS WITH PLASMAS 36 Plasma Formation 37 Plasma Heating 39 Plasma Diagnostic Techniques 40 HIGH-TEMPERATURE PLASMA STUDIES 40 Understanding Plasma Behavior 42 Low-Beta Pinch 45 High-Beta Pinch 49Stellarator Systems 53 Tokamak Systems 56-Magnetic-Mirror Systems 63 Internal-Ring Systems 3 65 NUCLEAR FUSION REACTORS WITH MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT 65 Toroidal Confinement System 68 Environmental Aspects 69 Direct Conversion Reactor 71 INERTIAL CONFINEMENT 71 Heating by Laser Beams 74 Laser-Fusion Reactor 76 NUCLEAR FUSION RESEARCH PROGRAMS 76Support by U. S. Government and Industry 77 Historical Outline 80 United States Programs 80 Foreign Programs 82 CONCLUSION 1 85 READING LIST 6 87 MOTION PICTURES Vic /ear 111.,10n.Oh: pro(c,.,1)j 1011(11 .,101 and HI )tyr, ;oh:raj(tlicir energy. VIO 1111; 4.1Creit)pc'd to produce electrical /mil 0' OilCarib.It .sale. aila lb111ci, eVI.Nb In ablIlldallcc ordinar1 water. The cloiterium 01 114 °coin) proud(' citotis.,r1-7 elk:rift lu Nan4 f C/ 'L 111110' Pc'/itli'tI1iC/If a! _tor 111('111(c In rate uj con.s1011010,1 1car,. 110/(c. 10 ',mild ti111,(1011 rcac tor by dhow the(ar I 9 Y M 4 - IMPORTANCE OF FUSION ENERGY Need for EnergySources The availability of energy (or power)for the operation of machinery has been a decisive factor inthe improvment of man's standard of thing. With the steadyrise in population andinthe use of mechanical devices toincreasethe productivity of labor, the world's powerrequirements are growing rapidly. In the past, the chief sourcesofenergy were the fossil fuelscoal, oil, and natural gas-and, to a smaller extent, water power. Theincreasing demand for energy has spurred worldwide exploration forfuels, especially for oil, and so far the newly discovered reserveshave kept pace with consumption. Although this appears to be a satisfactorysituation, there are limitations. First, thetime must come, possibly by the end of the present century, when the reservesbegin to dwindle and a shortage of fossil fuelsbecomes a definite prospect.And, second,the distribution of oil and coal reservesis such that many industrialized countries must import their fuel supplies atconsiderable cost. Furthermore, the combustion of fossil fuels, especiallycoal, causes prob- lems of atmospheric pollution by producingoxides of sulfur and nitrogen and fine particles of ash. A newand clean source of energy with a basicfuel that is cheap, abundant, and available to all, would thus be a greatboon to mankind. Scientists hope that nuclear fusion willprovide such an energy source. In order tounderstand this processitis necessaryto know something about thebackground of nuclear energy. Photo I.Large loop prominences on the sun, caused by a locally intense magnetic field. The U. S. programin con- trolled '.lsionis devoted to research on fusion reactions similar to those fromwhich the sun derives its energy. 5 Nuclear Energy Soon after radioactivitywas discovered at the end of the 19th century. physicistsbeganto conjecture about the energy. which they called 'atomic energy,"that was appar- ently stored within the atom. Later.when the nuclear theory 01 the atom was developed in 1911.scientists realized that it was the nucleus. the centralpart of the atom, that was the source of this energy.* Hence. it shouldbe called "nuclear energy" rather than atomicenergy. Until 1939. however,no one knew how this energy could bereleased in a useful manner. In the course of his studies in1905 on the theory of retativity. Albert Einstein showedthat mass and energywere, in asense. equivalent. Consequently.energy should be liberated in any process associatedwith a net decrease in mass. By considering the measuredmasses of atomic nuclei, it became apparent that therewere two general ways whereby nuclear energy could be martsavailable by using reactions accompanied by a decrease inmass. One is by the splitting (fission) of the heaviest nucleiinto nuclei of intermediate mass. and the other is by the combination(fusion) of some of the lightest nuclei. Actually, there are many othernuclear processes that are accompanied bya liberation of energy. But only with nuclear fission and fusionis there the possibility of producing more energy than is consumedduring the reaction. In other words. only for these reactionsis there 4 prospCct that the process. once started,can be self-sustaining like a fire. The discovery of nuclear fissionin 1939 revealed anew and highly concentrated source ofenergy. Some 6 years later, this energy was first used in the atomic bomb, andsince that time nuclear reactors have been developed inwhich fission energy is liberated as heat and convertedinto electric power.t The *Ior a description of atomic theory,see Inner Space. The Structure of the Atom, another booklet in this series. +See uelear Reactors and Nuclear Power Plants,other booklets in this series. 6 ,mpact of nuclear fission energyis already being felt in many countries. In 1973, about =I%of the electricity used inthe United States was generated innuclear reactor power plants and this proportion is expected toincrease to more than 20% by 1980. But fissionis not the complete solution tothe energy problem. Itis true that the world resourcesof the basic materials, namelyuranium and thorium minerals, are fairly abundant. There are,however, many countries that either do not possess theseminerals or do not have the means for producing nuclear fuelsfrom them. Furthermore, special precautions must be takenin the operation of fission power plants to prevent undesirableenvironmental effects. Nuclear Fusion Energy fusion of Itis such considerationsthat make nuclear exceptional interest as apossible source of power.The fuel is "hell% y hydrogen" or a form (isotope)of hydrogen. called that is present
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