Edita Bromova
Can an uncontrollable fusion reaction occur?

Under terrestrial conditions, a spontaneous fusion reaction can never occur. Keeping the fusing fuel in a state where fusion can occur requires constant outside intervention. In the case of magnetic confinement, a proper magnetic fields to hold the plasma in place and heat the plasma to keep it at a sufficiently high temperatures are essential. In addition to these assumptions, a lot of other parameters need to be taken care of and as soon as the conditions are not ideal, the fusion reaction stops and cannot continue. Moreover, less than one gram of fuel is involved in the reaction at one time. So even if all the available fuel were to undergo a fusion reaction at once somehow, the energy released would not be large enough to do any significant damage. In reality, however, scientists are working very hard on a fusion that would burn at least a little bit on its own. They are trying to achieve a state called ignition, where the fusion reactions will produce enough heat that there is no need to heat the plasma further. However, controlled fusion on Earth cannot be done without maintaining magnetic fields, removal of impurities, fuel injection or instability management.
More mysteries
Keep exploring questions other readers asked.

Edita Bromova
How would it look like to use a fusion reactor to power a spaceship?
The use of fusion reactions to power spacecraft is still pure speculation but in principle there would be two possibilities. The first option is that the electricity produced by the reactor would be used to operate some…
Read the answer
Edita Bromova
Why do we want to try to ignite a completely different type of fusion than the one operated by the Sun?
There are many types of fusion reactions that release energy when the nuclei of light atoms fuse. Except for the different temperatures required for their ignition, they have different cross-sections and yields which are…
Read the answer
Edita Bromova
Will there ever be a wristwatch with a fusion battery?
So far, the trend is exactly the opposite, and the new fusion reactors are getting bigger and bigger. It turns out that a larger volume of plasma provides it with better stability and better parameters, thanks to which t…
Read the answerWant to ask something?
Send us an e-mail with the subject "Physics mysteries" to the address below, or use the contact form.
We can't wait to tackle your interesting questions!