Scientists Look at Fission-Fusion Hybrid Reactor
A team of scientists from the University of Texas have designed a fission-fusion hybrid reactor, which would provide clean and abundant energy while solving the biggest problem with conventional nuclear fission reactors: long-term radioactive waste. The design would function like a fission reactor, but would burn spent nuclear fuel in a fusion reaction. The research is funded in part by the Department of Energy and experiments may begin in 2015. From the article:
Called a Super X Divertor, the innovation is the sort of heat exhaust system only a nuclear physicist could dream up: It reconfigures electromagnetic fields within a fusion reactor, allowing the reactor to handle much hotter temperatures in more compact spaces.
That innovation can allow fusion reactors to be built much smaller and allow them to be coupled with a traditional fission reactor for on-site incineration of radioactive waste.
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