ACEIZE Tracking the current state of Science and Technology

What is the potential for fusion reactors to be an integral part of the global energy supply?

There are two types of Helium 3 fusion reactions that people talk about. Deuterium + Helium 3, Helium 3 + Helium 3.

The D-He reaction produces a helium atom and a single proton. However, during the reaction process a small amount of radioactivity is generated. He-He reaction generates a helium atom and two protons.

Since the output of these reactions is a simple proton, the energy produced by the reaction can be directly used as electricity. This is accomplished using electrostatic or electromagnetic containers. This means that these reactors run at much higher efficiencies that other fusion reactors which needs to convert the heat generated by the reaction into electricity.

Okay, so far everything sounds awesome. We have two potential sources of power which generate little to no radioactivity and which can generate more efficient electricity than current fission or fusion reactors. But how much He3 is needed? And how do we get it?

According to Wikipedia we would need about 15-20 tons of He3 to meet US household electrical demand. For comparison, a single railcar holds about 120 tons. Currently He3 is available as a by product of the Tritium decay process or a certain type of reactor called the 'CANDU'. These two sources were estimated to generate about 17kg by the year 2000.

Whoops! 17kg production vs 15 ton demand.

There is a very small amount of He3 available on earth, which is apparently not viable. There is somewhat more He3 available on the moon. Current estimates put He3 deposits around 0.01 ppm. This means that a mining operation would need to process 100 million tons of the lunar surface to generate 1 ton of He3. One of the comments on the 'peak oil debunked' blogspot claims that all 100 million tons would need to be heated to 700 ° C to separate the He3. That's a lot of dirt processing in order to generate a relatively small amount of fuel -- and just to satisfy US household demand.

There is certainly a supply issue which needs to be solved before He3 fusion becomes a staple for the future. But that's not stopping the Chinese and Indians who are re-testing the lunar soil and performing more intensive mapping operations.