Laser boron fusion reactor with picosecond petawatt block ignition

Fusion of hydrogen with the boron isotope 11, H¹¹B at local thermal equilibrium, is 10⁵ times more difficult than fusion of deuterium and tritium (DT). If, in contrast, extreme nonequilibrium plasma conditions are used with picoseconds laser pulses of more than 10-PW power, the difficulties for fusion of H¹¹B change to the level of DT. This is based on a nonthermal transfer of laser energy into macroscopic plasma motion by nonlinear (ponderomotive) forces as theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed as ultrahigh acceleration. Besides, elastic nuclear collisions of the alpha particles from H¹¹B reactions result in an avalanche process such that the energy gain from H¹¹B fusion is nine orders of magnitudes above the classical values. In contrast to preceding laser fusion with spherical compression of the fuel, the side-on direct drive fusion of cylindrical uncompressed solid boron fuel trapped by magnetic fields above kilotesla permits a reactor design with only one single laser beam for ignition within a spherical reactor. It appears to be potentially possible with present day technology to build a reactor for environmentally fully clean, low-cost, and lasting power generation.