Civilization Needs Sustainable Energy: Fusion Breeding May be Best

Abstract

Fission breeding is certainly a sustainable source, as it makes the entire uranium and thorium resources available for power production. Civilization requires power. For a while, it can get by with the power supplies we currently use, fossil fuel, nuclear fuel; and hydroelectric, solar and wind. Only the last 3 are sustainable. The first two will run out at some point, very likely well before the end of this century, especially if the less developed parts of the world come up to OECD standards. In this work, I argue that at least for this century, solar, wind, and pure fusion are not up to the task. However, far before the end of the century, fusion might be used to produce fissile material for use in modern nuclear reactors. The requirements for a fusion device used as a breeder are considerably different from the requirements for pure fusion. It is likely that an ITER-type device could be used for fusion breeding on a large scale. Fusion breeding can support nuclear fuel for civilization, at 30-40 terawatts (TW), at least as far into the future as the dawn of civilization was in the past.