A review of sup 3 He resources and acquisition for use as fusion fuel

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Fusion Technology; (United States)

OSTI ID:7275748

Wittenberg, L J; Camerson, E N; Kulcinski, G L; Ott, S H; Santarius, J F; Sviatoslavsky, G I; Sviatoslavsky, I N; Thompson, H E ^[1]

---

1. Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (United States). Fusion Technology Inst.

This paper reports that a combination of man-made and natural resources on earth could provide sufficient {sup 3}He fuel for the technological development of D-{sup 3}He fusion reactors. Helium exists in natural gas wells; however, at the current rate of natural gas usage, this resource would provide {lt}5 kg/yr of {sup 3}He. The radioactive decay of {sup 3}H produced in fission production reactors could yield 110 kg of {sup 3}He by the year 2000 if it were retained. Apparently, a large amount of {sup 3}He exists within the earth's mantle, but it is inaccessible. A significant quantity of {sup 3}He, which could be imported to supply a fusion power industry on earth for hundreds of years, exists on the moon. The solar wind has deposited {gt}1 million tonnes of {sup 3}He in the fine regolith that covers the surface of the moon. The presence of this solar wind gas was confirmed by analyses of the lunar regolith samples brought to earth. A strong correlation is noted between the helium retained and the TiO{sub 2} content of the regolith; consequently, remote-sensing data showing high-titanium-bearing soils in the lunar maria areas have been used to locate potentially rich sites for helium extraction. Surface photographs of Mare Tranquillitatis have shown that nearly 50% of this mare may be minable and capable of supplying {approximately}7100 tonnes of {sup 3}He. A mobile mining vehicle is proposed for use in the excavation of the soil and the release of the helium and other solar wind gases. The evolved gases would be purified by a combination of permeators and cryogenic techniques to provide a rich resource of H{sub 2}, helium, CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, and N{sub 2}, followed by helium isotopic separation systems.

• OSTI ID: 7275748
• Journal Information: Fusion Technology; (United States), Vol. 21:4; ISSN 0748-1896
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Ma
HELIUM 3
RESOURCES
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
DEUTERIUM
FISSION
ISOTOPE SEPARATION
MOON
NATURAL GAS
NUCLEAR FUELS
PRODUCTION
REMOTE SENSING
REVIEWS
SOLAR WIND
THERMONUCLEAR REACTIONS
TITANIUM OXIDES
USES
CHALCOGENIDES
DOCUMENT TYPES
ENERGY SOURCES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
HELIUM ISOTOPES
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MATERIALS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
REACTOR MATERIALS
SATELLITES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
STABLE ISOTOPES
SYNTHESIS
TITANIUM COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
700480* - Fusion Technology- Component Development
Materials Studies- (1992-)