ABSTRACT
The fact and the abundance of deuterium in seawater is the driving force behind the high-cost fusion research in the industrial world. The fusion process is a repetition of a fundamental, cosmic process of element formation and as such requires the cosmic temperatures of "thermonuclear reactions". In these, a plasma forms where the shell electrons are stripped away from their nucleons and direct neutron impact on nuclei becomes possible. Compared to the fission reactors, the technical problems in the case of fusion reactors are multifold. Aside from the very difficult focusing or containment problem, there is no material or materials combination which could stand the enormous neutron flux required in the actual reaction volume. The enormous difficulties to harness fusion energy by a process of plasma heating, have led to considerations to utilize both fusion and fission reactions by a complementary coupling of reaction products and energy leading to the "hybrid reactor" principle.
