The idea is to run just below the Bohm limit (see eg pg 13 in [1]), where the temperature and density required is much lower than that for Tokamak-style inertia

The idea is to run just below the Bohm limit (see eg pg 13 in [1]), where the temperature and density required is much lower than that for Tokamak-style inertial confinement fusion. They adiabatically pre-heat and then inject a field-reversed configuration plasma immediately before implosion. So the plasma is at thermal equilibrium and the magnetic confinement minimizes conductivity loss during implosion. Los Alamos has an MTF program that has demonstrated fusion under these conditions, and there are several other programs. See [2] and [3] for recent experimental and simulation results (different driver mechanism, but same ignition region). [1] http://fire.pppl.gov/fpa04_wurden.pdf http://fire.pppl.gov/fpa04_wurden.pdf [2] http://fire.pppl.gov/IFE_NAS3_MTF_Wurden.pdf http://fire.pppl.gov/IFE_NAS3_MTF_Wurden.pdf [3] http://sites.apam.columbia.edu/SMproceedings/11.ContributedPapers/11.Thio_etal.pdf http://sites.apam.columbia.edu/SMproceedings/11.ContributedP...