On the implementation of a chain nuclear reaction of thermonuclear fusion on the basis of the p+{sup 11}B process

• Published in: Physics of atomic nuclei 2015-07, Vol.78 (5)
• Main Authors: Belyaev, V. S., Krainov, V. P., Zagreev, B. V., Matafonov, A. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; BERYLLIUM 11 TARGET; BORON 11; CHAIN REACTIONS; IMPLEMENTATION; IRRADIATION; NEUTRONS; NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; PLASMA ACCELERATION; PONDEROMOTIVE FORCE; PROTON BEAMS; PROTON REACTIONS; PROTONS; STARS; THERMONUCLEAR REACTIONS; THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS; UNIVERSE
• ISSN: 1063-7788; 1562-692X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063778815040031

Various theoretical and experimental schemes for implementing a thermonuclear reactor on the basis of the p+{sup 11}B reaction are considered. They include beam collisions, fusion in degenerate plasmas, ignition upon plasma acceleration by ponderomotive forces, and the irradiation of a solid-state target from {sup 11}B with a proton beam under conditions of a Coulomb explosion of hydrogen microdrops. The possibility of employing ultra-short high-intensity laser pulses to initiate the p+{sup 11}B reaction under conditions far from thermodynamic equilibrium is discussed. This and some other weakly radioactive thermonuclear reactions are promising owing to their ecological cleanness—there are virtually no neutrons among fusion products. Nuclear reactions that follow the p+{sup 11}B reaction may generate high-energy protons, sustaining a chain reaction, and this is an advantage of the p+{sup 11}B option. The approach used also makes it possible to study nuclear reactions under conditions close to those in the early Universe or in the interior of stars.