Advantages of fusion

Fusion offers significant potential advantages as a future source of energy – as just part of a varied world energy mix.

Abundant fuels

Deuterium is abundant as it can be extracted from all forms of water. If all the world’s electricity were to be provided by fusion power stations, present deuterium supplies from water would last for millions of years.

Tritium does not occur naturally and will be bred from Lithium within the machine. Therefore, once the reaction is established, even though it occurs between Deuterium and Tritium, the external fuels required are Deuterium and Lithium.

Lithium is the lightest metallic element and is plentiful in the earth’s crust. If all the world’s electricity were to be provided by fusion, known Lithium reserves would last for at least one thousand years.

The energy gained from a fusion reaction is enormous. To illustrate, 10 grams of Deuterium (which can be extracted from 500 litres of water) and 15 grams of Tritium (produced from 30 grams of Lithium) reacting in a fusion powerplant would produce enough energy for the lifetime electricity needs of an average person in an industrialised country.

Inherent safety

The fusion process in a future power station will be inherently safe. As the amount of Deuterium and Tritium in the plasma at any one time is very small (just a few grammes) and the conditions required for fusion to occur (e.g. plasma temperature and confinement) are difficult to attain, any deviation away from these conditions will result in a rapid cooling of the plasma and its termination. There are no circumstances in which the plasma fusion reaction can ‘run away’ or proceed into an uncontrollable or critical condition.

Environmental advantages

Like conventional nuclear (fission) power, fusion power stations will produce no ‘greenhouse’ gases – and will not contribute to global warming.

As fusion is a nuclear process the fusion powerplant structure will become radioactive – by the action of the energetic fusion neutrons on material surfaces. However, this activation decays rapidly and the time span before it can be re-used and handled can be minimised (to around 50 years) by careful selection of low-activation materials. In addition, unlike fission, there is no radioactive ‘waste’ product from the fusion reaction itself. The fusion byproduct is Helium – an inert and harmless gas.

Selesai ditulis di Surabaya pada 6 November 2011

Oleh Supriyono