inertial confinement fusion
Quick Summary
Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a method for achieving nuclear fusion by compressing a tiny pellet of fuel, such as deuterium-tritium, to extremely high densities and temperatures. This compression is achieved by focusing intense laser or particle beams onto the pellet, causing it to implode. The goal is to produce fusion power in the brief moments before the pellet disintegrates.1
For fusion to occur, the plasma must be hot enough for reactions to happen at a sufficient rate, and it must be confined so that the released energy maintains its temperature. In ICF, this involves compressing the fuel to densities 1,000 to 10,000 times that of normal matter, with a confinement time as short as 20 picoseconds. The energy gain from the pellet explosion compared to the driver energy is called the pellet gain, and high gains are necessary for an ICF reactor.21
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nuclear fusionHistory of fusion energy research…major approach to fusion energy, inertial confinement fusion (ICF), was begun in the early 1960s. The initial idea was proposed in 1961, only a year after the reported invention of the laser, in a then-classified proposal to employ large pulses of laser energy (which no one then quite knew how…
Read More…major approach to fusion energy, inertial confinement fusion (ICF), was begun in the early 1960s. The initial idea was proposed in 1961, only a year after the reported invention of the laser, in a then-classified proposal to employ large pulses of laser energy (which no one then quite knew how…
Read More- nuclear fusionInertial confinement fusion (ICF)
In this approach, a fuel mass is compressed rapidly to densities 1,000 to 10,000 times greater than normal by generating a pressure as high as 1017 pascals (1012 atmospheres) for periods as short as a nanosecond (10−9 second). Near the end…
Read MoreIn this approach, a fuel mass is compressed rapidly to densities 1,000 to 10,000 times greater than normal by generating a pressure as high as 1017 pascals (1012 atmospheres) for periods as short as a nanosecond (10−9 second). Near the end…
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fusion reactorInertial confinementICF research has followed an evolutionary path similar to that of magnetic fusion. In the laser fusion approach, densities ranging from 100 to 200 times liquid deuterium-tritium density have been achieved. For example, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, a product of density…
Read MoreICF research has followed an evolutionary path similar to that of magnetic fusion. In the laser fusion approach, densities ranging from 100 to 200 times liquid deuterium-tritium density have been achieved. For example, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, a product of density…
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