The Joint European Torus (JET) magnetic fusion experiment in 1991
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. Research into fusion reactors began in the 1940s, but as of 2024, no device has reached net power, although net positive reactions have been achieved.[1][2][3][4]
Fusion processes require fuel and a confined environment with sufficient temperature, pressure, and confinement time to create a plasma in which fusion can occur. The combination of these figures that results in a power-producing system is known as the Lawson criterion. In stars, the most common fuel is hydrogen, and gravity provides extremely long confinement times that reach the conditions needed for fusion energy production. Proposed fusion reactors generally use heavy hydrogen isotopes such as deuterium and tritium (and especially a mixture of the two), which react more easily than protium (the most common hydrogen isotope), to allow them to reach the Lawson criterion requirements with less extreme conditions. Most designs aim to heat their fuel to around 100 million kelvins, which presents a major challenge in producing a successful design. Tritium is extremely rare on earth, having a half life of only ~12.3 years. Consequently, during the operation of envisioned fusion reactors, known as breeder reactors, helium cooled pebble beds (HCPBs) are subjected to neutron fluxes to generate tritium to complete the fuel cycle.[5]
As a source of power, nuclear fusion has a number of potential advantages compared to fission. These include reduced radioactivity in operation, little high-level nuclear waste, ample fuel supplies (assuming tritium breeding or some forms of aneutronic fuels), and increased safety. However, the necessary combination of temperature, pressure, and duration has proven to be difficult to produce in a practical and economical manner. A second issue that affects common reactions is managing neutrons that are released during the reaction, which over time degrade many common materials used within the reaction chamber.
Fusion researchers have investigated various confinement concepts. The early emphasis was on three main systems: z-pinch, stellarator, and magnetic mirror. The current leading designs are the tokamak and inertial confinement (ICF) by laser. Both designs are under research at very large scales, most notably the ITER tokamak in France and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser in the United States. Researchers are also studying other designs that may offer less expensive approaches. Among these alternatives, there is increasing interest in magnetized target fusion and inertial electrostatic confinement, and new variations of the stellarator.
^Chang, Kenneth (December 13, 2022). "Scientists Achieve Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough With Blast of 192 Lasers – The advancement by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers will be built on to further develop fusion energy research". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
^"DOE National Laboratory Makes History by Achieving Fusion Ignition". US Department of Energy. December 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
^Gardner, Timothy. "US scientists repeat fusion ignition breakthrough for 2nd time". Reuters. No. Dec 13, 2022. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
^Gan, Y; Hernandez, F; et, al (2017). "Thermal Discrete Element Analysis of EU Solid Breeder Blanket Subjected to Neutron Irradiation" (PDF). Fusion Science and Technology. 66 (1): 83–90. arXiv:1406.4199. doi:10.13182/FST13-727.
Fusionpower is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two...
Razors in this product line include FusionPower, Fusion ProGlide Shield, Fusion ProGlide, Fusion ProGlide Power, and Fusion ProGlide with FlexBall Technology...
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei, usually deuterium and tritium (hydrogen isotopes), combine to form one or more different...
nuclei and subatomic particles Fusion power, power generation using controlled nuclear fusion reactions Cold fusion, a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction...
The history of nuclear fusion began early in the 20th century as an inquiry into how stars powered themselves and expanded to incorporate a broad inquiry...
DEMO, or a demonstration power plant (often stylized as DEMOnstration power plant), refers to a proposed class of nuclear fusion experimental reactors that...
Aneutronic fusion is any form of fusionpower in which very little of the energy released is carried by neutrons. While the lowest-threshold nuclear fusion reactions...
supply. The design requires fusionpower technology beyond current capabilities, and much larger and more complex rockets. Fusion nuclear pulse propulsion...
decades of publicly funded research to advance fusion technology, suggesting that commercial fusionpower could become a reality even before the mid-21st...
This timeline of nuclear fusion is an incomplete chronological summary of significant events in the study and use of nuclear fusion. 1920 Based on F.W. Aston's...
Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusionpower that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of...
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is an American fusionpower company founded in 2018 in Cambridge, Massachusetts after a spin-out from the Massachusetts...
Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. It would contrast starkly with the "hot" fusion that...
Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a fusion energy process that initiates nuclear fusion reactions by compressing and heating targets filled with fuel...
controlled thermonuclear fusionpower. The tokamak concept is currently one of the leading candidates for a practical fusion reactor. The proposal to...
generation. ITER's goals are to achieve enough fusion to produce 10 times as much thermal output power as thermal power absorbed by the plasma for short time periods;...
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions...
Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) is a conceptual, low radioactivity, nuclear-fusion rocket engine, designed to produce both thrust and electric power for interplanetary...
General Fusion is a Canadian company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, which is developing a fusionpower device based on magnetized target fusion (MTF)...
A fusion energy gain factor, usually expressed with the symbol Q, is the ratio of fusionpower produced in a nuclear fusion reactor to the power required...
and eventual fusion pulsed power plants. The Z machine's origins can be traced to the Department of Energy needing to replicate the fusion reactions of...
Inside 24% of the solar radius is the core which generates 99% of the fusionpower of the Sun. There are two distinct reactions in which four hydrogen nuclei...
Fusion ignition is the point at which a nuclear fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining. This occurs when the energy being given off by the reaction heats...
The Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor (CFR) was a fusionpower project at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. Its high-beta configuration, which implies...
The ARC fusion reactor (affordable, robust, compact) is a design for a compact fusion reactor developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)...
for the most exposed sections of the plasma-facing inner wall of nuclear fusion reactors. It will be used as the plasma-facing material of the divertor...
famously said that fusionpower is always 30, or even 50, years away. The advent of commercial fusion has changed that, and now fusionpower is typically predicted...
Inertial Fusion Energy is a proposed approach to building a nuclear fusionpower plant based on performing inertial confinement fusion at industrial scale...
Global Information