Magneto-inertial Fusion
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Magneto-inertial Fusion
Magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) describes a class of fusion power devices that combine aspects of magnetic confinement fusion and inertial confinement fusion in an attempt to lower the cost of fusion devices. MIF uses magnetic fields to confine an initial warm, low-density plasma, then compresses that plasma to fusion conditions using an impulsive driver or "liner." The concept is also known as magnetized target fusion (MTF) and magnitnoye obzhatiye (MAGO) in Russia. Magneto-inertial fusion approaches differ in the degree of magnetic organization present in the initial target, as well as the nature and speed of the imploding liner. Laser, solid, liquid and plasma liners have all been proposed. Magneto-inertial fusion begins with a warm dense plasma target containing a magnetic field. Plasma's conductivity prevents it from crossing magnetic field lines. Compressing the target amplifies the magnetic field. Since the magnetic field reduces particle transport, the field insulates the t ...
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Fusion Power
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. Research into fusion reactors began in the 1940s, but as of 2025, no device has reached net power. Fusion processes require fuel, in a state of plasma, and a confined environment with sufficient temperature, pressure, and confinement time. The combination of these parameters that results in a power-producing system is known as the Lawson criterion. In stellar cores the most common fuel is the lightest isotope of hydrogen (Protium (isotope), protium), and gravity provides the conditions needed for fusion energy production. Proposed fusion reactors would use the heavy hydrogen isotopes of deuterium and tritium for DT fusion, for which the Lawson criterion is the easiest to achieve ...
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United States Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Located in Washington, DC, it was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological development and prototyping. The laboratory's specialties include plasma physics, space physics, materials science, and tactical electronic warfare. NRL is one of the first US government scientific R&D laboratories, having opened in 1923 at the instigation of Thomas Edison, and is currently under the Office of Naval Research. As of 2016, NRL was a Navy Working Capital Fund activity, which means it is not a line-item in the US Federal Budget. Instead of direct funding from Congress, all costs, including overhead, were recovered through sponsor-funded research projects. NRL's research expenditures were approximately $1 billion per year. Research The Naval Research Laboratory conducts a wide variety of ...
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Helion Energy
Helion Energy, Inc. is an American fusion research company, located in Everett, Washington. They are developing a magneto-inertial fusion technology to produce helium-3 and fusion power via aneutronic fusion, which could produce low-cost clean electric energy using a fuel that can be derived exclusively from water. History The company was founded in 2013 by David Kirtley, John Slough, Chris Pihl, and George Votroubek. The management team won the 2013 National Cleantech Open Energy Generation competition and awards at the 2014 ARPA-E Future Energy Startup competition, were members of the 2014 Y Combinator program, and were awarded a 2015 ARPA-E ALPHA contract, "Staged Magnetic Compression of FRC Targets to Fusion Conditions". In 2022, the company was one of five finalists for the 2022 ''GeekWire'' Awards for innovation of the year, specifically for fusion energy start up category. In 2023, the company was one of five finalists for the 2023 ''GeekWire'' Best workplaces of t ...
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Magnetized Target Fusion
Magnetized target fusion (MTF) is a fusion power concept that combines features of magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Like the magnetic approach, the fusion fuel is confined at lower density by magnetic fields while it is heated into a plasma. As with the inertial approach, fusion is initiated by rapidly squeezing the target to greatly increase fuel density and temperature. Although the resulting density is far lower than in ICF, it is thought that the combination of longer confinement times and better heat retention will let MTF operate, yet be easier to build. The term '' magneto-inertial fusion'' (MIF) is similar, but encompasses a wider variety of arrangements. The two terms are often applied interchangeably to experiments. Fusion concepts In fusion, lighter atoms are fused to make heavier atoms. The easiest fuels to do this with are isotopes of hydrogen. Generally these reactions take place inside a plasma. A plasma is a heated gas, ...
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Inertial Confinement Fusion
Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a fusion energy process that initiates nuclear fusion reactions by compressing and heating targets filled with fuel. The targets are small pellets, typically containing deuterium (2H) and tritium (3H). Typically, short pulse lasers deposit energy on a hohlraum. Its inner surface vaporizes, releasing X-rays. These converge on the pellet's exterior, turning it into a plasma. This produces a reaction force in the form of shock waves that travel through the target. The waves compress and heat it. Sufficiently powerful shock waves achieve the Lawson criterion for fusion of the fuel. ICF is one of two major branches of fusion research; the other is magnetic confinement fusion (MCF). When first proposed in the early 1970s, ICF appeared to be a practical approach to power production and the field flourished. Experiments demonstrated that the efficiency of these devices was much lower than expected. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, experiments were co ...
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Linus (fusion Experiment)
The Linus program was an experimental fusion power project developed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) starting in 1971. The goal of the project was to produce a controlled fusion reaction by compressing Plasma (physics), plasma inside a metal liner. The basic concept is today known as magnetized target fusion. The reactor design was based on the mechanical compression of a molten metal liner. A chamber would be filled with molten metal and rotated along one axis, creating a cylindrical cavity in the center. A suitable fusion fuel, heated to several thousand degrees to form it into a plasma, is injected into the center of the cavity. The metal is then rapidly collapsed, and due to the conservation of magnetic flux within the metal, the plasma is confined within the resulting collapsing shell and is itself collapsed. The adiabatic process would raise the temperature and density of the trapped plasma to Lawson criterion, fusion conditions. The use of a liquid met ...
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Rayleigh–Taylor Instability
The Rayleigh–Taylor instability, or RT instability (after Lord Rayleigh and G. I. Taylor), is an instability of an Interface (chemistry), interface between two fluids of different densities which occurs when the lighter fluid is pushing the heavier fluid. Philip Drazin, Drazin (2002) pp. 50–51. Examples include the behavior of water suspended above oil in the gravity of Earth, mushroom clouds like those from volcanic eruptions and atmospheric nuclear explosions, supernova explosions in which expanding core gas is accelerated into denser shell gas, merging binary quantum fluids in metastable configuration, instabilities in plasma fusion reactors and inertial confinement fusion. Concept Water suspended atop oil is an everyday example of Rayleigh–Taylor instability, and it may be scientific modeling, modeled by two completely plane-parallel layers of immiscible fluid, the denser fluid on top of the less dense one and both subject to the Earth's gravity. The Mechanical equili ...
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Kopeck
The kopeck or kopek is or was a coin or a currency unit of a number of countries in Eastern Europe closely associated with the economy of Russia. It is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system; 100 kopeks are worth 1 ruble or 1 hryvnia. Originally, the kopeck was the currency unit of Imperial Russia, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and then the Soviet Union (as the Soviet ruble). , it is the currency unit of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The Russian kopeck is also used in two regions of Georgia (country), Georgia, and the List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised states (including by Russia) of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Partially recognised Transnistria has its own kopeck. In the past, several other countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union had currency units that were also named kopecks. The name of the coin of Azerbaijan comes from the word kopeck – gapik (, Azerbaijani manat, manat). No country's kopeck ...
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Magnetic Confinement Fusion
Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma (physics), plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of controlled fusion research, along with inertial confinement fusion. Deuterium–tritium fusion, Fusion reactions for reactors usually combine light Atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei of deuterium and tritium to form an alpha particle (helium-4 nucleus) and a neutron, where the energy is released in the form of the kinetic energy of the reaction products. In order to overcome the Coulomb barrier, electrostatic repulsion between the nuclei, the fuel must have a temperature of hundreds of millions of kelvin, at which the fuel is fully Ionization, ionized and becomes a Plasma (physics), plasma. In addition, the plasma must be at a sufficient density, and the energy must remain in the reacting region for a sufficient time, as specified by the Lawson criterion (tri ...
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Kurchatov Institute
The Kurchatov Institute (, National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute") is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear power, nuclear energy. It is named after Igor Kurchatov and is located at 1 Kurchatov Square, Moscow. In the Soviet Union it was known as I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (), abbreviated KIAE (). Between 1991 and 2010, it was known as the Russian Scientific Centre "Kurchatov Institute" () before its name was changed to National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute". History Until 1955 known under a secret name "Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences", the Kurchatov Institute was founded in 1943 with the initial purpose of developing nuclear weapons. The majority of Soviet nuclear reactors were designed in the institute, including the on-site F-1 (nuclear reactor), F-1, which was the first nuclear reactor outside North America to sustain criticality. Since 1955, it was also the host for major scien ...
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