Word: tritium
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...steps on that ascent was the realization that the conditions of temperature and density necessary for the sustained fusion of ordinary hydrogen nuclei were far beyond the present capabilities of science. But experiments showed that it was easier to fuse two isotopes, or different forms, of hydrogen: deuterium and tritium. Reason: the nuclei of these isotopes have larger cross sections than those of ordinary hydrogen nuclei. Thus the probability of direct collisions between them is increased and that in turn means that less extreme conditions are required to make them fuse. The easiest fusion to attain, scientists determined, was between...
Tiny Bombs. Still, to join enough deuterium and tritium nuclei to sustain a fusion reaction requires heroic efforts. Deuterium-tritium gas mixtures must be heated to as much as 100 million degrees Celsius and be maintained at that temperature for about one second at a density of about 1014 (100 trillion) particles per cubic centimeter. Scientists have taken two different routes in their efforts to achieve these critical conditions. One is to use a "magnetic bottle" -an enclosing magnetic field-to contain the hydrogen fuel. The other is to use lasers or electron beams to make miniature hydrogen "bombs...
...magnetic technique takes advantage of a phenomenon that occurs when a deuterium-tritium mixture, or any other gas, is heated to an extremely high temperature: the atoms of gas are stripped of their electrons. The gas thus becomes a "plasma"-a mixture of negatively charged electrons and positively charged nuclei, or ions. Because these charged particles will not generally cross magnetic lines of force, they can be confined by a powerful magnetic field. The magnetic bottle is the only known practical container in which fusion can be sustained for any significant amount of time. If a plasma were to come...
...them as in fission-still remains what it has been for a generation: a possibility. But in a number of laboratories and one private company-KMS Industries of Ann Arbor, Mich.-scientists are moving closer to doing what they know can be done: fusing the nuclei of deuterium and tritium to create a powerful burst of energy. At KMS and the Government's Los Alamos lab, lasers are being used to "implode" deuterium pellets. Energy has been produced, but not enough to be measured accurately or drive the laser. Within three to five years, scientists hope to reach that...
Inside the Princeton doughnut-shaped Tokamak, deuterium and tritium (both isotopes, or different forms, of hydrogen) will serve as fusion fuel. In the form of a plasma (a high-temperature, ionized gas), the fuel will be suspended within powerful magnetic fields. Thus the gas will be supported by nothing but magnetic force and will be insulated from the steel walls of the reactor. If the plasma touched the wall, the wall would be heated, the plasma would be contaminated and its temperature lowered. The powerful magnetic fields will be manipulated to squeeze the plasma, raising its temperature and increasing...