At present, the mainstream nuclear fusion in the world isotopic deuterium that takes hydrogen. Tritium is used as fuel to constrain plasma in the experimental reactor with a high-intensity magnetic field to continuously heat the substance to hundreds of millions of degrees to promote the nuclear fusion reaction. But recently some scientists proposed another alternative, which is to drive the "hydrogen-boro fusion" with high-intensity dual laser beams, which not only does not produce radioactive waste at all, but may also have the opportunity to realize the construction of commercial reactors earlier than deuterium-tritium fusion.
Scientists have been working hard to study how to control nuclear fusion on Earth for more than half a century. Currently, several methods that can control nuclear fusion are "laser-constrained (inertial constraint) nuclear fusion" and "magnetic constraint nuclear fusion ( tokamak ).
Large-scale laser-constrained nuclear fusion research device at the National Ignition Experimental Facility (NIF). (Source: University of New South Wales)
The largest experimental tokamak reactor in the world is currently under construction. It is an international thermonuclear fusion experimental reactor (ITER), located in southern France. It uses raw materials to directly extract the hydrogen isotope "deuterium" from seawater for nuclear fusion. In the tokamak annular cavity, the substance is continuously heated by a high-intensity magnetic field to hundreds of millions of degrees (10 times the temperature of sun core ) to achieve the purpose of nuclear fusion.
This is the most feasible nuclear fusion method at present, but at this stage, many tokamak devices will be shut down in a very short time after they produce nuclear fusion reactions to avoid damage to the unit due to high temperature. Therefore, the experimental tokamak device has only research value and is not practical. The key to whether it can be converted is the high temperature tolerance of the tokamak inner wall material.
intends to heat fuel to the sun's temperature by relying on strong electromagnetic fields. An international research team led by physicist Heinrich Hora of the University of New South Wales, Australia, now proposes that using two powerful beams of fast bursts of lasers can already achieve "hydrogen-boron fusion". Unlike coal or nuclear energy, which ultimately drives the steam turbine to generate electricity by heating liquids, the energy generated by the hydrogen-boro mixture will be directly converted into electrical energy. Schematic diagram of
hydroboro fusion reaction.
In addition, the hydrogen boro fusion will not produce neutron , which means that the reaction is not radioactive and will not produce any radioactive waste.
Heinrich Hora claims that this obstacle will no longer be a problem with the advancement of laser technology. A series of experiments have shown that high-intensity laser pulses at petawatt-scale can generate gigawatts of power in 10-12 seconds, compressing atomic nuclei together with precise nonlinear forces, triggering an "avalanche" fusion reaction.
Although this technology has only been proven in experiments and simulations, the research team weighed the trade-offs and believed that the hydrogen-boro reaction was a completely feasible nuclear fusion method, and was closer to the final result than the deuterium-tritium fusion. As long as scientists find a way to use "avalanche", the era of hydrogen-boro fusion will arrive.
This research was published in the journal "Laser and particle beam ", and Heinrich Hora even applied for a new patent for the system and founded the "HB11 Energy" energy company to promote the technology. If research in the next few years does not encounter major engineering obstacles, they will be able to build a prototype reactor within 10 years.
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