Why not try Deuterium-Tritium first?

Q:

Since hydrogen-boron fusion is more difficult to fuse, why don’t you start with deuterium-tritium and get that working first?

We’ve already discussed the reasons why hydrogen-boron is a better fuel for power producing fusion reactors : there is no radioactive waste, and generating electricity is less expensive because it does not require a steam turbine. But people have asked why we don’t use deuterium-tritium as an easier first step in our research program. If we achieved breakeven with deuterium-tritium it would be easier to get funding to continue on to hydrogen-boron.

The short answer is that tritium is expensive, highly regulated and radioactive. Any experiment with tritium must use additional radiation safety precautions, and comply with additional regulations. Even though deuterium-tritium fuses at lower plasma temperatures, the experiment to demonstrate breakeven would turn out to be more expensive because of the extra tritium handling costs. Our simulations tell us we should be able to achieve breakeven with hydrogen-boron fuel. So we see no reason to start with a more expensive experiment with a less desirable fuel.