Thermonuclear fusion is a way to achieve nuclear fusion by using extremely high temperatures. There are two forms of thermonuclear fusion: uncontrolled, in which the resulting energy is released in an uncontrolled manner, as it is in thermonuclear weapons and in most stars; and controlled, where the fusion reactions take place in an environment allowing some or all of the energy released to be harnessed for constructive purposes. This article focuses on the latter.
A fusion rocket is a theoretical design for a rocket driven by fusion propulsion which could provide efficient and long-term acceleration in space without the need to carry a large fuel supply. The design relies on the development of fusion power technology beyond current capabilities, and the construction of rockets much larger and more complex than any current spacecraft. A smaller and lighter fusion reactor might be possible in the future when more sophisticated methods have been devised to control magnetic confinement and prevent plasma instabilities. Inertial fusion could provide a lighter and more compact alternative, as might a fusion engine based on an FRC.
Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a type of fusion energy research that attempts to initiate nuclear fusion reactions by heating and compressing a fuel target, typically in the form of a pellet that most often contains a mixture of deuterium and tritium. Typical fuel pellets are about the size of a pinhead and contain around 10 milligrams of fuel.
A fusor is a device that uses an electric field to heat ions to nuclear fusion conditions. The machine makes a voltage between two metal cages, inside a vacuum. Positive ions fall down this voltage drop, building up speed. If they collide in the center, they can fuse. This is one kind of an inertial electrostatic confinement device – a branch of fusion research.
Fusion power is a theoretical form of power generation in which energy will be generated by using nuclear fusion reactions to produce heat for electricity generation. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, and at the same time, they release energy. This is the same process that powers stars like our Sun. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors.
A neutron source is any device that emits neutrons, irrespective of the mechanism used to produce the neutrons. Neutron sources are used in physics, engineering, medicine, nuclear weapons, petroleum exploration, biology, chemistry, and nuclear power.
ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which will be the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment. It is an experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor that is being built next to the Cadarache facility in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, in Provence, southern France.
Inertial electrostatic confinement is a branch of fusion research that uses an electric field to elevate a plasma to fusion conditions. Electric fields can do work on charged particles, heating/confining them to fusion conditions. This is typically done in a sphere, with material moving radially inward, but can also be done in a cylindrical or beam geometry. The electric field can be generated using a wire grid or a non-neutral plasma cloud.
Aneutronic fusion is any form of fusion power in which neutrons carry no more than 1% of the total released energy. The most-studied fusion reactions release up to 80% of their energy in neutrons. Successful aneutronic fusion would greatly reduce problems associated with neutron radiation such as ionizing damage, neutron activation and requirements for biological shielding, remote handling and safety.
DEMO is a proposed nuclear fusion power station that is intended to build upon the ITER experimental nuclear fusion reactor. The objectives of DEMO are usually understood to lie somewhere between those of ITER and a "first of a kind" commercial station, sometimes referred to as PROTO.
An inertial fusion power plant is intended to produce electric power by use of inertial confinement fusion techniques on an industrial scale. This type of power plant is still in a research phase.
A Riggatron is a magnetic confinement fusion reactor design created by Robert W. Bussard in the late 1970s. It is a tokamak on the basis of its magnetic geometry, but some unconventional engineering choices were made. In particular, Riggatron used copper magnets positioned inside the lithium blanket, which was hoped to lead to much lower construction costs. Originally referred to as the Demountable Tokamak Fusion Core (DTFC), the name was later changed to refer to the Riggs Bank, which funded development along with Bob Guccione, publisher of the adult magazine Penthouse.
The University of Florida Training Reactor (UFTR), commissioned in 1959, is a 100 kW modified Argonaut-type reactor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The UFTR is a light water and graphite moderated, graphite reflected, light water cooled reactor designed and used primarily for training and nuclear research related activities. The UFTR is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and is the only research reactor in Florida.
Taylor Ramon Wilson is an American nuclear physics enthusiast and science advocate. In 2008, at the age of 14, he produced nuclear fusion using a fusor and at the time was the youngest person ever to do so.
LIFE, short for Laser Inertial Fusion Energy, was a fusion energy effort run at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory between 2008 and 2013. LIFE aimed to develop the technologies necessary to convert the laser-driven inertial confinement fusion concept being developed in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) into a practical commercial power plant, a concept known generally as inertial fusion energy (IFE). LIFE used the same basic concepts as NIF, but aimed to lower costs using mass-produced fuel elements, simplified maintenance, and diode lasers with higher electrical efficiency.
Robert W. Conn is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Kavli Foundation, a U.S. based foundation dedicated to the advancement of basic science research and public interest in science. A physicist and engineer, Conn is also the current Board Chair of the Science Philanthropy Alliance, an organization that aims to increase private support for basic science research, and Dean Emeritus of the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. In the 1970s and 1980s, Conn participated in some of the earliest studies of fusion energy as a potential source of electricity, and he served on numerous federal panels, committees, and boards advising the government on the subject. In the early 1970s, he co-founded the Fusion Technology Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW), and in the mid-1980s he led the formation of the Institute of Plasma and Fusion Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a university administrator in the 1990s and early 2000s, Conn served as Dean of the School of Engineering at UC San Diego as it established several engineering institutes and programs, including the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, known as Calit2, the Center for Wireless Communications, and the Whitaker Center for Biomedical Engineering. While at UC San Diego he also led the effort to establish an endowment for the School of Engineering, which began with major gifts from Irwin and Joan Jacobs. Irwin M. Jacobs is the co-founder and founding CEO of Qualcomm. While Conn was dean, the engineering school was renamed in 1998 the Irwin and Joan Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego. Conn's experience in the private sector includes co-founding in 1986 Plasma & Materials Technologies, Inc. (PMT), and serving as Managing Director of Enterprise Partners Venture Capital (EPVC) from 2002 to 2008. Over the years he has served on numerous private and public company corporate boards. Conn joined The Kavli Foundation in 2009. He helped establish the Science Philanthropy Alliance in 2012.
The Horne Hybrid Reactor (HHR) is a development type of nuclear fusion research device produced by Horne Technologies in 2017. A prototype demonstration device that uses a combination of fusion technologies and implementation of Rare earth - Barium - Copper Oxide (REBCO) superconductors in a "high-beta" style magnetic configuration. Heating is achieved through the use of inertial electrostatic confinement, improved by a magnetically-shielded grid, and a "high-beta" fusion core.
