Science made simple: What is Plasma Confinement?

Plasma confinement is keeping plasma in a container by different forces under extreme conditions for thermonuclear nuclear fusion reactions. These conditions are found naturally in stars where gravity sustains them. Plasma is contained in the laboratory by strong magnetic fields. Magnetic confinement can keep fusion-grade plasmas in check for the long term. Another method of imprisonment is to use the inertia caused by imploding material. This inertial confinement strategy was demonstrated in hydrogen bomb explosions and other specialized facilities on Earth. Research is ongoing in the area of inertial confinement. Laboratories employ high-power lasers or electric discharges to compress hydrogen fuel at very high densities for billionths of seconds.

Plasma Confinement Facts

  • Magnetically constrained plasmas can reach temperatures up to 10 times higher than the sun’s core.
  • ITER will be the world’s first-ever burning plasma. It will produce 500 megawatts of power from fusion, ten times more than what will be injected. NIF has 2 megajoules of light energy, equivalent to the energy used by 20,000 100-watt bulbs. It can be delivered in just 16 nanoseconds.

DOE Office of Science: Plasma Confinement Contributions

The Department of Energy Office of Science Fusion Energy Sciences program provides the most critical source of support for magnetic plasma confinement development and research in the United States. The DOE’s support for ITER constitutes an essential component of these efforts. ITER, once completed, will be the first experiment that studies confined nuclear fusion plasmas capable of producing energy on the scale of a power station. It will be the most complex scientific experiment humankind has ever created. The DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration primarily supports inertial confinement research. While inertial confinement is possible for energy production, the core NNSA mission must ensure a safe, secure, and effective nuclear stockpile. NNSA conducts research in two inertial confinement-fusion facilities: the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the Z Machine (Z machine).