Thermonuclear fusion

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 such as the "hydrogen bomb", and controlled, where the fusion reactions take place in an environment allowing some of the resulting energy to be harnessed for constructive purposes. This article focuses on the latter.

Temperature requirements

Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles, so by heating the material it will gain energy. After reaching sufficient temperature, given by the Lawson criterion, the energy of accidental collisions within the plasma is high enough to overcome the Coulomb barrier and the particles may fuse together.

In a deuterium–tritium fusion reaction, for example, the energy necessary to overcome the Coulomb barrier is 0.1 MeV. Converting between energy and temperature shows that the 0.1 MeV barrier would be overcome at a temperature in excess of 1.2 billion Kelvin.

Latest News for: Thermonuclear fusion

Edit

Assembly begins on world's biggest telescope network

China Daily 21 Sep 2023
Square Kilometer Array project involves China, the UK, Australia and others ... Engineers then spent several hours connecting the two colossal components on the site ... It is China's second-largest international science collaboration after the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, the world's largest nuclear fusion experiment.  .

Most Viewed

FILE - Divers look for flood victims in the city of Derna, Libya, Sept. 18, 2023. The devastating storm that dumped torrential rains along the Libyan coast this month was up to 50 times more likely to occur and 50% more intense because of human-caused climate change, according to an analysis released Tuesday, Sept. 19.
AP / Yousef Murad, File

Libya flood deaths expose climate chasm

Business Day | 29 Sep 2023
File - The President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, speaks during a BRICS forum in Brasilia, Brazil, 13 November, 2019.
Creative Commons / Marcos Corrêa/PR http

Xi Jinping’s death wish

New Statesman | 29 Sep 2023
A prototype of the drug-producing implant for cancer treatment is smaller than a human finger.
Brandon Martin/Rice University

Small, Implantable Device Could Sense and Treat Cancer

Technology Org | 29 Sep 2023
×