Electric Power Enhancement using Spin-Polarized Fuel in Fusion Power Plants

TL;DR

This paper shows that using spin-polarized fuel in fusion power plants can greatly increase net electric power output, especially near breakeven conditions, by exploiting the spin polarization to amplify power gains.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of spin-polarized fuel as a method to significantly enhance electric power output in fusion power plants, demonstrating potential for achieving breakeven.

Findings

Spin-polarized fuel can multiply electric power output in fusion plants.

Power gains from SPF often surpass thermal fusion power increases.

Modest SPF improvements can enable breakeven in ITER-like devices.

Abstract

Using a range of fusion power plant (FPP) concepts, we demonstrate that spin-polarized fuel (SPF) can significantly enhance net electric power output, often by many multiples. Notably, the electric power gain from SPF generally exceeds the corresponding increase in thermal fusion power. Plants close to engineering breakeven stand to benefit most, where even modest boosts in fusion power produce disproportionately larger gains in net electricity. As a representative example, a 25% increase in fusion power via SPF could allow an ITER-like device (with an added turbine to recover thermal fusion power) to achieve engineering breakeven. These findings strongly motivate the development of spin-polarized fuel for FPPs.