Proposed restructuring of the American fusion program around the fission fusion hybrid

Summary form given only, as follows. In 1996, the goals of the American fusion program were changed from energy production to fusion science. However with this change, there are two fundamental dilemmas. First, how does one measure progress toward the goal; and second, how can this program, which is now only one subfield in all physics research, be justified at the multi hundred million dollar per year level? This author´s answer is that it is not possible to do either; indeed it is likely that the program will suffer future large budget cuts. As an alternative, one could build a fission fusion reactor. A tokamak like JET, operating at steady state with DT could generate enough nuclear fuel to power a 300 MW nuclear power station, a future upgrade might be economically viable. Although today there is strong opposition to nuclear power in the United States, in a 21st century world of 10 billion people, all of whom will demand a middle class life style, nuclear energy will be an important part of the power mix. China and India are already going in that direction; Africa and Latin America will too. We have the luxury of refusing nuclear energy, the developing world does not. It is in our interest to be involved, even if only for export market, and to make sure that the nuclear power is developed in as safe and proliferation resistant way as possible. A fission fusion reactor could play an important role in using thorium to breed /sup 233/U, a proliferation resistant nuclear option. In this way, the American fusion program could produce energy much more quickly, and help both the fusion and fission efforts. This poster is a summary of two documented works in this area by the author (1999, 2000).