受控核聚变自五十年代中期,以具有作为潜在新能源的前景,受到人们的重视。许多工业发达国家的著名科学实验室纷纷开展这方面的研究。三十年来创造出许多结构各异的实验装置,其中以磁约束型的托卡马克装置取得很大的进展。据报道,美、苏、日、西欧分别研制的TFTR、T-15、JT-60、JET四个这类装置不久可进行“点火”试验,可以想象核聚变装置从实验成功到发展成为可作为实用能源的聚变堆,还须做大量的工作。本文就它走向这个实用目标将会遇到的关键技术障碍作扼要的叙述。这些障碍估计在:(1)燃料的来源;(2)能的转换与输运;(3)安全防护和设备维修等三个方面特别显得突出。国内外的有关科技工作者对这些问题均已有过若干论述。这里只是从应用核技术的角度较系统地来看这些技术障碍的性质和特点。 Controlled fusion has gained people’s attention since the mid-1950s with the prospect of being a potential new energy source. Many well-known scientific laboratories in industrialized countries have carried out research in this area. Thirty years have seen the creation of many experimental devices of various configurations, of which a great progress has been made in the magnetic constrained tokamak device. It has been reported that four such devices, TFTR, T-15, JT-60 and JET, developed respectively by the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Western Europe, can soon undergo “ignition” tests and it is conceivable that the nuclear fusion device will develop from experimental success to development as Practical energy fusion reactor, but also to do a lot of work. This article provides a concise account of the key technical obstacles it will face as it moves toward this practical goal. These obstacles are estimated in three aspects: (1) the source of fuel; (2) energy conversion and transport; (3) safety protection and equipment maintenance are particularly prominent. Some scientific and technological workers both at home and abroad have already elaborated on these issues. The nature and characteristics of these technical obstacles are more systematically taken from the perspective of application of nuclear technologies.