[en] Part of the University of Wisconsin study of the feasibility of recovering He-3 from the moon is selection and evaluation of potential mining sites. Selection and evaluation are based primarily on salient findings by investigators: (1) Regoliths from areas underlain by highland materials contain less than 20 wppm He; (2) Regoliths of certain maria or parts of maria also contain less than 20 wppm He, but mare regoliths at the Apollo 11 and 17 sites contain 25 to 49 wppm He; (3) The helium content of a regolith is a function of its composition; and (4) Helium is concentrated in the -50 micron size fractions of regoliths. In site selection, the concern is with the compositions of lunar regoliths, in particular with their titanium contents. It is widely accepted that compositions of mare regoliths are controlled by the nature of the underlying basalts from which the regoliths are largely derived. The distribution and extent of the three groups of basalts and the regoliths derived from them are the first basis for site selection and evaluation. Other considerations are briefly discussed

No abstract available

[en] It is shown in this paper that the D-He-3 fusion fuel cycle is not only credible from a physics standpoint, but that its breakeven and ignition characteristics could be developed on roughly the same time schedule as the DT cycle. It was also shown that the extremely low fraction of power in neutrons, the lack of significant radioactivity in the reactants, and the potential for very high conversion efficiencies, can result in definite advantages for the D-He-3 cycle with respect to DT fusion and fission reactors in the twenty-first century. More specifically, the D-He-3 cycle can accomplish the following: (1) eliminate the need for deep geologic waste burial facilities and the wastes can qualify for Class A, near-surface land burial; (2) allow inherently safe reactors to be built that, under the worst conceivable accident, cannot cause a civilian fatality or result in a significant (greater than 100 mrem) exposure to a member of the public; (3) reduce the radiation damage levels to a point where no scheduled replacement of reactor structural components is required, i.e., full reactor lifetimes (approximately 30 FPY) can be credibly claimed; (4) increase the reliability and availability of fusion reactors compared to DT systems because of the greatly reduced radioactivity, the low neutron damage, and the elimination of T breeding; and (5) greatly reduce the capital costs of fusion power plants (compared to DT systems) by as much as 50 percent and present the potential for a significant reduction on the COE. The concepts presented in this paper tie together two of the most ambitious high-technology endeavors of the twentieth century: the development of controlled thermonuclear fusion for civilian power applications and the utilization of outer space for the benefit of mankind on Earth

[en] Fusion of Helium-3 with deuterium offers and environmentally benign alternative to production of energy from fossil fuels and nuclear fission. Essentially unavailable from terrestrial sources, He-3 is potentially available from the Moon in very large amounts. This paper reports results of a study of the occurrence and distribution of helium on the Moon and lunar features that will govern helium mining and extraction

[en] The current status of fusion power research and the perception of a fusion power economy is reviewed as of early 1980. It is concluded that considerable progress has been made in the past 20 years and that by the late 1980s the achievement of energy ''break even'' could propel scientists into the commercialization stage of fusion research. Several fusion reactor designs have been reviewed and the common features used to develop an environmental and safety assessment of fusion versus other forms of energy available in the 21st century. With the existing knowledge as of 1980, it was concluded that fusion power plants will represent a much smaller environmental and safety hazard than coal or fission reactor plants even though fusion plants might be somewhat more expensive. Since this paper was written, events in the scientific community have reinforced the foregoing conclusions, and efforts are now under way to reduce even more the hazards discussed herein