Abstract
Tritium breeding and direct energy conversion are key technological problems in the development of practical fusion reactors. Lithium in some form is needed for tritium generation, but certain chemical problems must be overcome. Alternatives to lithium metal should be considered. Better methods must be developed for efficiently recovering the tritium and safely disposing of the unwanted byproducts. Separation of the fusion fuel and waste products will be especially challenging for mirror machines with direct energy conversion. Hopefully, in the long run, these machines will employ the DHe3 fuel cycle, but this will impose additional demands for efficient helium isotope separation and, possibly, tritium storage in some manner that allows for recovery of the He3 decay product.
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Lee, J.D. (1972). Tritium Breeding and Direct Energy Conversion. In: Gruen, D.M. (eds) The Chemistry of Fusion Technology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-4595-4_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-4595-4_2
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