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By recycling the 3 He decay into the reactor, the fusion reactor does not require materials resistant to fast neutrons. Assuming complete tritium burn-up, the reduction in the fraction of fusion energy carried by neutrons would be only about 18%, so that the primary advantage of the D-D fuel cycle is that tritium breeding is not required.
In an operating fusion reactor, part of the energy generated will serve to maintain the plasma temperature as fresh deuterium and tritium are introduced. However, in the startup of a reactor, either initially or after a temporary shutdown, the plasma will have to be heated to its operating temperature of greater than 10 keV (over 100 million ...
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 fuel mass more rapidly than it cools. In other words, fusion ignition is the point at which the increasing self-heating of the nuclear fusion removes the need for external heating. [1]
This paper is not applicable to IEC fusion, as a quasineutral plasma cannot be contained by an electric field, which is a fundamental part of IEC fusion. However, in an earlier paper, "A general critique of inertial-electrostatic confinement fusion systems" , Rider addresses the common IEC devices directly, including the fusor.
Deuterium–tritium fusion (DTF) is a type of nuclear fusion in which one deuterium (2 H) nucleus (deuteron) fuses with one tritium (3 H) nucleus (triton), giving one helium-4 nucleus, one free neutron, and 17.6 MeV of total energy coming from both the neutron and helium. It is the best known fusion reaction for fusion power and thermonuclear ...
Producing fusion power by confining the plasma with magnetic fields is most effective if the field lines do not penetrate solid surfaces but close on themselves into circles or toroidal surfaces. The mainline confinement concepts of tokamak and stellarator do this in a toroidal chamber, which allows a great deal of control over the magnetic ...
How Nuclear Fusion Reactors Work. Nuclear fusion is a blanket term that covers any reaction where, literally, the nucleuses of two different atoms are fused. It’s that simple.
The plasma tends to expand immediately and some force is necessary to act against it. This force can take one of three forms: gravitation in stars, magnetic forces in magnetic confinement fusion reactors, or inertial as the fusion reaction may occur before the plasma starts to expand, so the plasma's inertia is keeping the material together.