Technic and economic viability study on exploitation of lunar 3He resource

From the energetics point of view, the technic and economic viability study on exploitation of lunar 3He for fuelling the fusion reactor burning D-3He has been carried out. This study is divided into the following sections: analysis of solar wind parameters and estimation of potential quantity 3He in the lunar regolith, the cost evaluation of mining He of lunar soil; the energy cost calculation of He extraction by vacuum heating degassing during lunar day, the cost calculation of cryogenic isotopic separation 3He/4He during the lunar night, the energy cost for earth/moon transportation of liquid 3He, the energy payback calculation of fusion power burning 3He based lunar source, and finally the comparison of the energy multiplication with that for 235U production of nuclear fuel and for coal mining. The comparisons of cost of electricity between D-3He and D-T fuel cycle for different reactor types have been discussed