Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Fusion–fission hybrids revisited

  • Commentary
  • Published:

From Nature Physics

View current issue Submit your manuscript

With the increasingly urgent need to find solutions to the impending energy crisis, there is growing interest within the fusion community in revisiting the concept of the fusion–fission hybrid reactor. But how soon could such reactors be realized, and could they meet the challenges of the coming century?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Figure 1: The most common hybrid design consists of a fusion reactor core surrounded by a blanket of fissile material such as uranium or thorium.

References

  1. Lidsky, L. M. Nucl. Fusion 15, 151–173 (1975).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sakharov, A. Memoirs (transl. Lourie, R.) (Knopf, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bethe, H. Phys. Today 32, 44–51 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Moir, R. W. Nucl. Eng. Design 63, 375–394 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gohar, Y. Fusion Eng. Design 58–59, 1097–1101 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Manheimer, W. J. Fusion Energy 25, 121–139 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Stacey, W. M. et. al. Nucl. Technol. 162, 53–79 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. https://lasers.llnl.gov/missions/energy_for_the_future/life/

  9. Kotschenreuther, M., Valanju, P. M., Mahajan, S. M. & Schneider, E. A. Fusion Eng. Design 84, 83–88 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Forsberg, C. et al. The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. MIT Energy Initiative Report (MIT, in the press).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Freidberg, J., Kadak, A. Fusion–fission hybrids revisited. Nature Phys 5, 370–372 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1288

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1288

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Navigation