NUCLEAR FUSION AND SOLAR ENERGY

An attempt is made to critically rethink 66 years in the development agenda of controlled nuclear fusion and on this basis to answer the question: will a thermonuclear reactor be in demand in XXI century. A hypothetical fusion reactor is compared to existing nuclear fission reactor on the energy gained per unit volume of the active core when using either D-T or p-11 B-fuel. Progress in fusion research is opposed to the rapid development of solar energy. It is suggested that humankind will always need a variety of energy resources, so the fusion power plant can be built even with the dominance of solar energy.

Keywords:
controlled nuclear fusion, solar energy. 
УДК 53.06; 533.9.01
PACS numbers 28.52.-s, 52.55.-s, 88.40.H

NUCLEAR FUSION AND SOLAR ENERGY