Lesson 04 of 612 min

Inertial Confinement Fusion

Inertial confinement tries to quickly compress the fusion fuel to achieve high temperatures and pressures. Typically, a hydrogen sphere is hit by laser beams directed at its surface or into a cavity called the hohlraum.

Thermonuclear fusion is a process that takes place all over the universe in the cores of stars. The light nuclei of atoms fuse together, releasing large amounts of energy. To fuse, the atoms need to overcome the repulsive electrostatic forces that act between their positively charged nuclei. This can be achieved, for example, by high temperatures or by external forces pushing them together.

← Previous lesson Next lesson →

Keep exploring

Articles

Inertial Confinement Fusion

The inertial confinement fusion principle attempts to compress a small deuterium-tritium pellet to the density and temperature required for fusion ignition in its center. The reaction will then take place before the pellet remnants are blown apart, so the fusion plasma is held…

16 min read

Glossary

Inertial confinement

Compressing fusion fuel faster than it can fly apart.

Hohlraum

Cavity that converts laser light to X-rays.

← Back to Nuclear Fusion Courses