The photo is sourced from iaea.org
The thermonuclear reaction was performed by compressing a mixture of tritium (a radioactive hydrogen isotope) and deuterium (heavy hydrogen) induced by powerful lasers. This approach, fast thermonuclear fusion, ensures that a thermonuclear reaction occurs in millionths of a second. An alternative is slow fusion, which presupposes holding hot plasma together by magnetic fields and electric currents; this technique is going to be used at the ITER International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France.
Thermonuclear fusion, in which two light atomic nuclei are combined into a heavier one with concurrent release of energy, can become an alternative to the nuclear fission reaction when the nucleus falls into two lighter ones. This reaction underlies the operation of the present-day nuclear power plants. One of the differences between the two processes is the duration of decay of the radioactive materials used. For uranium-238 (the main type of fuel used in nuclear power plants) it reaches 4.5 billion years. For plutonium-239, a derivative of uranium 238, it reaches 24 thousand years. In the case of tritium, it is only 12.3 years, while deuterium is not radioactive at all.
Power generation using thermonuclear fusion will take place in several stages. A mixture of deuterium and tritium heated to 150 million degrees (which is ten times higher than the temperature of the solar core), will turn into plasma, followed by the release of helium and energy carrier neutrons. Those will be absorbed by the steel “blanket” surrounding the plasma and penetrated with reactor coolant pipes. For coolant, distilled water will be taken. When boiled, it will generate steam, which will be fed to the steam turbine to generate electricity.
