Thread: nuclear fusion plants

How far advanced is nuclear fusion research? i read that currently, more energy have to be used to get it working than is gained by it. this is when the figure eight design is used i think, where a huge magnetic field is needed to keep the plasma away from the sides of the chamber. i also read of the use of a laser to superheat a pellet of deuterium to the required Kelvins for fusion to start.

I thought it was the difficulties of perfecting a uniform implosion that made it inefficient compared to fission.

ok then. what is currently the most favoured method then? if it is difficult to control the implosion, is that where so much energy is needed to get it to work?

Under current technology you need To get the plutonium to chain-react by creating a very precise surrounding sphere of uranium that initiates simultaneously.

The key is to master how a fusion reactor can use the Uncertaincy principle to fuse nuclei and keep them together

Under current technology you need To get the plutonium to chain-react by creating a very precise surrounding sphere of uranium that initiates simultaneously.
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i'm asking about fusion, not fission.

I think you are right in your first post; that energy requirements for confining the plasma outweigh the energy yielded for a given reaction.

The two main practical confinement methods are using magnetic fields (most notably toroidal fields, as in a Tokamak), and inertial confinement, where a large pulse of energy is applied to a small pellet of the fuel. This causes the fuel pellet to implode, causing pressures and temperatures so high, that most of the fuel will have fused before it has chance to dissipate at all. In a hydrogen bomb this pulse is initially created by a fission reaction.

I do believe that lasers and electron beams have been used in supplying the energy pulse too. Probably because they are more accurately controlled than a fission reaction. (control is obviously not a factor in a hydrogen bomb).

I'm fairly certain that nowadays there exists various hybrid experimental reactors, using a mix and match of various methods too. These will probably make interesting reading material as the focus is simultaneously on increasing the efficiency of reactions, and safely (and accurately) controlling them.

Originally Posted by KALSTER

Under current technology you need To get the plutonium to chain-react by creating a very precise surrounding sphere of uranium that initiates simultaneously.
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i'm asking about fusion, not fission.

That is fusion you idiot.

Originally Posted by GhostofMaxwell

That is fusion you idiot.

No, it's not. Not even close. No one fuses plutonium or uranium - people fuse light elements like hydrogen or helium isotopes. Plutonium/uranium doesn't have anything to do with fusion power. You appear to be confusing a fusion reactor with a nuclear fusion weapon, and even as an explanation of fusion weapons it's pretty far off.

WTF? Yes I am describing the only fusion technology that is tried and tested.

For gods sake this is a science forum not a nursery. You are supposed to be adults so act like it and stop being so immature. The forum rules clearly state no insulting of other players so if you don't abide by these rules you will be banned.

@GhostofMaxwell, I have found no evidence for Uranium/Plutonium fusion reactions ANYWHERE. The closest think that came to it was a Thermonuclear bomb which used a uranium-plutonium primary reaction to start secondary deuterium/tritium explosions.
Please state your evidence for your claims

can you state the difference between fission and fusion ghost? seems not