List of fusion experiments

Experiments directed toward developing fusion power are invariably done with dedicated machines which can be classified according to the principles they use to confine the plasma fuel and keep it hot.

The outer layer of the pellet is ablated, providing a reaction force that compresses the central 10% of the fuel by a factor of 10 or 20 to 103 or 104 times solid density.

Mirror machines have advantages in a simpler geometry and a better potential for direct conversion of particle energy to electricity.

They generally require higher magnetic fields than toroidal machines, but the biggest problem has turned out to be confinement.

It is a pulsed device that depends on a plasma that is not in equilibrium and has the potential for direct conversion of particle energy to electricity.

The additional degree of freedom gained by giving up toroidal symmetry might ultimately be usable to produce better confinement, but the cost is complexity in the engineering, the theory, and the experimental diagnostics.

Target chamber of the Shiva laser , used for inertial confinement fusion experiments from 1978 until decommissioned in 1981
Plasma chamber of TFTR , used for magnetic confinement fusion experiments, which produced 11 MW of fusion power in 1994