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How much energy does a deuterium-tritium fusion reaction release?
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nuclear fusion
Interior of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility (NIF), located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California. The NIF target chamber uses a high-energy laser to heat fusion fuel to temperatures sufficient for thermonuclear ignition. The facility is used for basic science, fusion energy research, and nuclear weapons testing.
The deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction is an exoergic process that releases a positive Q-value of joules per reaction.1
In terms of the energy carried by the reaction products, the D-T process produces an alpha particle with an energy of 3.5 million electron volts (MeV) and a neutron with an energy of 14.1 MeV.2