A New "First-Principles" Look at the Parameter Space for Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion

Summary form only given. In this paper, we take a new "first principles" look at the conditions under which fusion can occur. The simple analysis reported here offers a general understanding of the extreme differences between the conventional approaches to controlled fusion, magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The analysis shows that the constraint of steady-state operation forces MCF to operate at the low end of the density spectrum and that the constraint of unmagnetized fuel forces ICF to operate at the high end. Most importantly, the analysis confirms what the present authors as well as other authors have stated for some time: there is a third pathway to fusion, to date not adequately explored, that may well be the lowest cost pathway. This third pathway, now known as magnetized target fusion (MTF), appears to be accessible using existing pulsed power technology such as discussed at this conference. Hence, MTF may be not only the lowest cost pathway but also the shortest pathway.