Evidence for Critical Energy for Ion Confinement in Magnetic Fusion Reactors

It is shown here that fusion test reactors could not ignite for half-a-century because trials were conducted at thermonuclear ion energies 10-30 KeV, an order of magnitude lower than \textit{critical energy} [1-2], E$_{\mathrm{c}}$ $\sim$ 200 KeV. At subcritical energies, plasma is destroyed by neutralization of ions \underline {via} overlooked atomic (non-nuclear) charge transfer collisions with giant cross-section, 10$^{\mathrm{9}}$ barns,~100 times greater than that for \textit{ionization} collisions that counters neutralization. Neutral injection sets limit on ion magnetic confinement time \textless 10$^{-6}$ s \underline {vs.} \textgreater 1 s required for ignition. In contrast, at~energies \textit{above} E$_{\mathrm{c}}$, ionization prevails; near $\sim$ 1 MeV, stable confinement of 20 s was routinely observed [3] with \textit{charged} injection.~- To render ITER viable,~ion energy must be increased to \textgreater /$=$ 1 MeV; neutral radioactive DT fuel replaced with~charged, nonradioactive~deuterium, giving rise to compact~\textit{aneutronic }reactor with direct conversion into RF power [4]. \\[4pt] [1] Physics Scripta, \textbf{23}, 143 (1981);\\[0pt] [2] Bull. APS DPP96 Meet, Denver, 1996, http://flux.aps.org/meetings/YR9596/BAPSDPP96/abs/G280014.html available on http://www.aneutronicfusion.org/;\\[0pt] [3] Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{54}, 769 (1985);\\[0pt] [4] ANEUTRONIC ENERGY, NIM A \textbf{271}, 209 (1988); Inst. Advanced Study Princeton, Symposium Coll. Beam Fusion.