General
Nuclear Physics
- Nuclear Fission: operational nuclear power technology.
- Nuclear Fusion: possible future nuclear power technology.
- Plasma: state of matter containing the ionized atoms in which the fusion reactions happen.
- Proton, neutron, electron, nucleus: subatomic particles.
- Elements: atoms with same number of protons in nucleus defining chemical properties.
- Isotope, radioisotope, deuterium, tritium: different forms of atoms with same number of protons. but different numbers of neutrons.
- Radioactivity: disintegration of nuclei with emission of radiation.
- Half-life, short-lived, long-lived: timescales of radioactive decay.
- Neutron activation: nuclear reaction making radioactive waste in fission and fusion reactors.
- Radiation damage: degradation of materials due to radiation, particularly serious for fusion. reactors
- LLW, ILW, HLW: Radioactive waste classification
Fusion Reactors
- Mainstream fusion: fusion technology with tokamaks using deuterium-tritium fuel.
- Fuels for fusion reactors: deuterium-tritium is the main fuel, but alternatives exist.
- Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF): main method in development for fusion reactors.
- Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF): alternative method for fusion using lasers to implode the fuel.
- Superconductivity: materials with zero electrical resistance used for magnets.
- Tokamak: most popular type of fusion reactor.
- Plasma disruption: rapid loss of plasma confinement leading to damage of tokamak.
- Vacuum Vessel, First Wall, Blanket, Divertor, RF Antenna, Cryostat: tokamak components.
- Limiters: components on first wall of tokamak to provide protection against plasma losses.
- Fusion power plant: tokamak reactor with systems to generate electricity.
- Stellarator: fusion reactor concept which predated tokamaks.
- Tore Supra: first tokamak with superconducting coils, operational 1998-2010.
- TFTR: first tokamak to operate with deuterium-tritium fuel, operational 1982-1997.
- NSTX-U: Latest Spherical Tokamak project at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
- JT-60SA: Latest Tokamak project in Japan.
- JET: largest operational tokamak, working since 1983.
- ITER: international project to build world's largest tokamak, construction started 2010.
- DEMO: projected first prototype fusion power plant with mainstream fusion technology.
- ARC: Compact Tokamak project of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the biggest private fusion company.
- Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (ASN): regulatory authority in France responsible for all nuclear installations including ITER.