There are two ways to achieve the temperature and pressure necessary for hydrogen fusion to take place. Which of the following processes does a tokamak nuclear reactor employ to achieve conditions of fusion?
- Magnetic Confinement
- Inertial Confinement
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Only 1
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Only 2
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Both 1 and 2
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Neither 1 nor 2
A
Correct answer
Explanation
Magnetic confinement uses magnetic and electric fields to heat and squeeze the hydrogen plasma.Microwaves, electricity and neutral particle beams from accelerators heat a stream of hydrogen gas. This heating turns the gas into plasma. This plasma gets squeezed by super-conducting magnets, thereby allowing fusion to occur. The most efficient shape for the magnetically confined plasma is a donut shape (toroid). A reactor of this shape is called a tokamak.The ITER project in France is using this method.