Environmental Superiority of Lunar 3He Based Fusion Energy

Gerald L. Kulcinski and John F. Santarius
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

The main driving forces to develop fusion energy as opposed to fission energy are the advantageous safety, maintenance environmental, and proliferation attributes of fusion fuel cycles. Within the fusion program itself there are the first generation fuels (DT, DD), the second-generation fuels (D3He), and the third generation fuels (3He3He, p11B). Most of the World effort is on the first generation because the cross sections are the highest. The second and third generations require more energy to make the same number of fusions at any temperature and the Earth contains very little 3He fuel. The discovery of large amounts of 3He on the lunar surface has made a major change in the way we assess the viability of producing safe and clean energy from fusion reactors. This presentation will concentrate on the advantages of the 3He-based fuels particularly with respect to induced radioactivity and the disposal of nuclear waste after the fusion reactors have reached their useful lifetime. We will establish the annual requirements for 3He fusion reactors and relate that to the procurement of this isotope from the Moon. The use of other volatiles as by-products will also be discussed.