Patent Number: H00004464
Section: claims

1. A method of controlling the reaction rates of fuel nuclei in a fusion reactor having a plasma confining magnetic field, a vacuum vessel and a fuel consisting essentially of a fusion plasma, said method comprising the steps of: (a) polarizing the nuclei of neutral fuel atoms in a particular direction relative to the plasma confining magnetic field, said fuel atoms being polarized such that essentially all of said atoms have the same polarization;  (b) injecting said polarized fuel atoms into said vacuum vessels; and  (c) forming said fusion plasma from said polarized fuel atoms.  (a) polarizing the nuclei of said fuel atoms in a particular direction relative to the plasma confining magnetic field, said fuel atoms being polarized such that essentially all of said atoms have the same polarization;  (b) injecting said polarized fuel atoms into said vacuum vessel; and  (c) forming said fusion plasma from said polarized fuel atoms. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said fuel atoms comprise D and T and wherein the nuclei of said D and T are polarized parallel to the plasma confining magnetic field such that said reaction rate is increased. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said fuel atoms comprise D atoms and said D nuclei are polarized transverse to the plasma confining magnetic field, thereby increasing said reaction rate. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said fuel atoms comprise D atoms and said D nuclei are polarized parallel to the plasma confining magnetic field, such that said reaction rate is suppressed. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said fuel atoms comprise D and He.sup.3 and said D nuclei are polarized parallel to said plasma confining magnetic field, such that said reaction rate is increased. 6. A method of controlling the direction of emission of the reaction products of the fuel in a fusion reactor having a plasma confining magnetic field, a vacuum vessel and a fuel consisting essentially of a fusion plasma said reaction products including neutrons and alpha particles, said method comprising the steps of: 7. In a controlled fusion reactor having a vacuum vessel and a plasma confining magnetic field, an improved nuclear fuel which consist essentially of a plasma of fuel atoms with polarized nuclei. 8. The fuel of claim 7 wherein the fuel atoms comprise D and T atoms and said D and T nuclei are polarized parallel to the plasma confining magnetic field. 9. The fuel of claim 7 wherein the fuel atoms comprise D and He.sup.3 atom and said D nuclei are polarized parallel to the plasma confining magnetic field. 10. The fuel of claim 7 wherein the fuel atoms comprise D atoms and said D nuclei are polarized parallel to the plasma confining magnetic field. 11. The fuel of claim 7 wherein the fuel atoms comprise D atoms and said D nuclei are polarized transverse to the plasma confining magnetic field. 12. The method of claim 6 wherein said fusion reactor is a mirror machine, said fuel atoms comprise D and T atoms and said D and T nuclei are polarized parallel to the plasma confining magnetic field, thereby increasing the fraction of alpha particles trapped in the mirror field. 13. The method of claim 6 wherein said fusion reactor is a tokamak, said fuel atoms comprise D and T atoms and said D nuclei are polarized transverse to the plasma confining magnetic field, thereby emitting said alpha particles and said neutrons along the plasma confining magnetic field.