Comment by adamredwoods

4 days ago

Good technical intro to H-mode (high-confinement mode) for fusion reactions to work:

https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/science-close-develo...

>> In the H-mode, a calm edge without turbulence reduces how much heat and how many charged particles the plasma loses. This leads to a sharp increase in pressure across the entire volume of the plasma, including the core where the conditions that can lead to fusion occur. The reduced energy and particle losses also minimize damage to the material surfaces surrounding the plasma.

Wouldn’t that make energy recovery from the plasma much more difficult?

  • Neutrons and photons pass through magnetic fields, so they always escape the plasma and provide heat that can be turned into steam. Keeping the plasma ions better confined doesn't impair energy recovery.