Editing Fusion power (section)

=== Energy capture ===
Multiple approaches have been proposed to capture the energy that fusion produces. The simplest is to heat a fluid. The commonly targeted D-T reaction releases much of its energy as fast-moving neutrons. Electrically neutral, the neutron is unaffected by the confinement scheme. In most designs, it is captured in a thick "blanket" of [[lithium]] surrounding the reactor core. When struck by a high-energy neutron, the blanket heats up. It is then actively cooled with a working fluid that drives a turbine to produce power.

Another design proposed to use the neutrons to breed fission fuel in a blanket of [[nuclear waste]], a concept known as a [[fission-fusion hybrid]]. In these systems, the power output is enhanced by the fission events, and power is extracted using systems like those in conventional fission reactors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://life.llnl.gov/ |title=Laser Inertial Fusion Energy |publisher=Life.llnl.gov |access-date=August 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915170021/https://life.llnl.gov/ |archive-date=September 15, 2014 }}</ref>

Designs that use other fuels, notably the proton-boron [[aneutronic fusion]] reaction, release much more of their energy in the form of charged particles. In these cases, power extraction systems based on the movement of these charges are possible. [[Direct energy conversion]] was developed at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] (LLNL) in the 1980s as a method to maintain a voltage directly using fusion reaction products. This has demonstrated energy capture efficiency of 48 percent.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal | last1=Barr | first1=W. L. | last2=Moir | first2=R. W. | last3=Hamilton | first3=G. W. | title=Experimental results from a beam direct converter at 100 kV | journal=Journal of Fusion Energy | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=2 | issue=2 | year=1982 | issn=0164-0313 | doi=10.1007/bf01054580 | pages=131–143| bibcode=1982JFuE....2..131B | s2cid=120604056 }}</ref>