Iran's fusion claims

Friday, 11 February 2011 The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) claims to have built its own nuclear fusion device. The apparatus, referred to as IR-IECF, would appear to be an inertial confinement device. In this type of fusion, laser or ion beams are focused very precisely onto the surface of a small target, a pellet of deuterium-tritium fuel a few millimetres in diameter. The outer layer of the material explodes generating an inward-moving implosion that compresses and heats the inner layers of material resulting in conditions where fusion can occur. Although AEOI has published a statement on the development, technical details of the Iranian device are sketchy. However, Iran's Press TV claims the device can be used to produce isotopes and radioisotopes for medical use.