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Originally Posted by Glom
I thought the inroad was D-T fusion and I thought the breakeven had already been achieved with it (although not in a viable way).
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Yep. They have achieved D-T break-even in the sense that the total energy being generated in the core is greater than the energy being used to maintain the reaction, although as of yet nobody is capturing and using the energy. D-T fusion is the easiest type of fusion to achieve - lower temperature and better energy return than D-D, D-He3, or He3-He3. But it's also the worst as far as neutron emission is concerned - a good portion of the energy released is in the form of emitted neutrons. AFAIK the current plan for commercial fusion generators is to surround the reactor core with a lithium blanket to breed tritium.