Glossary

Atom
The smallest particle of an element that is not further divisible ...

Atomic number Z
Every element is characterised by the number ...

Beta
The beta of a fusion plasma is defined the ratio of the ...

Blanket
In a future fusion power plant the blanket covers the interior surfaces of ...

Burning Plasma
In a burning fusion plasma so many fusion processes occur that ...

Cryostat
Thermally insulating vacuum vessel enclosing a superconducting ...

Deuterium
Deuterium (D) or heavy hydrogen is a natural isotope of hydrogen. Its ...

Divertor
In a tokamak the outer magnetic field lines are ...

Fusion product
The fusion product is the characteristic parameter for ...

Heating power
The energy input per unit time required ...

High-frequency heating
When electromagnetic waves of appropriate frequency are beamed into the ...

H-Regime
Plasma state with improved energy confinement in ...

Limiter
Plasma configuration in which the plasma is bounded ...

L-Regime
Plasma state in tokamak plasmas with purely ohmic or weak ...

Magnetic confinement
Charged particles – ions and electrons – in a magnetic field are ...

Neutral particle heating
Particles with high kinetic energy that are injected into the plasma transfer their energy ...

Neutron fluence
The neutrons impinging on one square metre of the plasma ...

Nuclear fusion
The neutrons impinging on one square metre of the plasma ...

Ohmic heating
Internal heating in a tokamak resulting from the ohmic resistance of the ...

Pellets
In a fusion power plant hydrogen is to be continuously converted to ...

Plasma
The "fourth aggregate state of matter" , largely composed of ionised ...

Power gain Q
The ratio of the heating power input to the plasma to ...

Spitzer Conductivity
The electrical resistance in a plasma is approximately ...

Stellarator
Unlike tokamaks, stellarators can in principle operate in continuous ...

Tokamak
The most investigated and furthest advanced configuration for ...

Tritium
Tritium (T) or superheavy hydrogen is an isotope of hydrogen. Its ...

Wall load
In a burning fusion plasma so many fusion processes occur that ...