Nuclear Fusion

Research on controlled fusion power has now been going on for a half century with somewhat disappointing results. Some experts believe that success may be "just around the corner," but others argue that the problems of an economically feasible fusion power plant may never be solved.

In late twentieth century, scientists began to explore approaches to fusion power that departed from the more traditional magnetic and inertial confinement techniques. One such approach was called the PBFA process. In this machine, electric charge is allowed to accumulate in capacitors and then discharged in 40-nanosecond micropulses. Lithium ions are accelerated by means of these pulses and forced to collide with deuterium and tritium targets. Fusion among the lithium and hydrogen nuclei takes place, and energy is released. However, the PBFA approach to nuclear fusion has been no more successful than has that of more traditional methods.