Fusion requires high temperature plasmas confined long enough to release appreciable fusion energy.
Confinement Method
| Heating Mechanisms
| Sample Image
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| Gravity
| - Compression (gravity)
- Fusion Reactions
(such as the p-p chain)
| Stars and Galaxies
|
| Inertial
|
- Compression (implosion driven by laser or ion beams,
or by X-rays from laser or ion beams)
- Fusion Reactions (primarily D+T)
| Laser-beam-driven Fusion
|
| Magnetic
|
- Electromagnetic Waves
- Ohmic Heating (by electric currents)
- Neurtal Particle Beams (atomic hydrogen)
- Compression (by magnetic fields)
- Fusion Reactions (primarily D+T)
|
Tokamak Schematic
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Visit the Los Alamos group and see their high-speed movies of TFTR!
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