On the implementation of a chain nuclear reaction of thermonuclear fusion on the basis of the [p+.sup.11]B process

Various theoretical and experimental schemes for implementing a thermonuclear reactor on the basis of the p[+.sup.11]B reaction are considered. They include beam collisions, fusion in degenerate plasmas, ignition upon plasma acceleration by ponderomotive forces, and the irradiation of a solid-state target from [sup.11]B with a proton beam under conditions of a Coulomb explosion of hydrogen microdrops. The possibility of employing ultra-short high-intensity laser pulses to initiate the p[+.sup.11]B reaction under conditions far from thermodynamic equilibrium is discussed. This and some other weakly radioactive thermonuclear reactions are promising owing to their ecological cleanness--there are virtually no neutrons among fusion products. Nuclear reactions that follow the p[+.sup.11]B reaction may generate high-energy protons, sustaining a chain reaction, and this is an advantage of the p[+.sup.11]B option. The approach used also makes it possible to study nuclear reactions under conditions close to those in the early Universe or in the interior of stars.