One measure of the viability of any power producing system is the thermal efficiency — a quantity which reflects the extent to which waste heat is rejected into the surroundings. Using an efficiency of 50% as basis for comparison we calculate the thermal efficiency of a mirror fusion reactor with direct conversion for two fuel cycles. It is shown that a D-T mirror reactor may be marginally competitive if current estimates of direct conversion and injection efficiencies prove realistic. The D-3He mirror reactor appears less hopeful unless these efficiencies can be significantly improved or the required injection power greatly reduced.
Energy balance for a pulsed D-T reactor