Fusion reactor
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
A fusion reactor is a type of nuclear power plant that uses nuclear fusion for power generation.
Usage[edit]
Humanity's yearning to explore and colonize space required significant energy requirements to power the machinery to industrialize and traverse interstellar space. Fusion power provided the energies to power humanity into a spacefaring civilization. The United Nations Space Command utilizes nuclear fusion reactors to a great degree, from spacecraft to groundside bases. Fusion reactors powered by deuterium reactions are used as a power source on UNSC warships. The reactor makes up the main component of a ship's primary propulsion system, known as a fusion drive, which uses vectored drive exhaust of fusion byproducts to provide thrust.[1][2] Fusion power also provided the necessary energy to run FTL propulsion systems.
The UNSC has also mastered fusion reactor technology on a remarkably small scale, as demonstrated by the miniature fusion plants mounted on the MJOLNIR armor.[3] Despite their size, these reactors are extremely efficient; the microfusion plant of the MJOLNIR Mark IV was capable of providing power for 15 years of continuous operation,[4] and could almost instantly recharge the depleted energy cells of a D77-TC Pelican. [GEN2] Mjolnir armor are equipped with a compact fusion reactor installed in the back of the armor's torso carapace.[5] The UNSC Army and Air Force units utilize air-transportable fusion reactor generators, like the MEP-PU-2550D/E Generator, to meet their mobile power requirements.[6] Manufacture of these small-scale fusion reactors requires the use of xenotime, a critical ore.[7]
The Covenant employ another type of fusion power plant, known as the pinch fusion reactor, to power their starships and other machines.[8]
Trivia[edit]
Real-world fusion reactors currently require more power than they release, so are not yet an economical means of electricity generation. Promising approaches include doughnut-shaped tokamaks, polywells and laser-driven inertial confinement fusion. In 2014, Lockheed Martin introduced the Compact Fusion reactor which promises to be an economical means of electrical generation.
List of appearances[edit]
- Halo: The Fall of Reach (First appearance)
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Halo: The Flood
- Halo: First Strike
- Halo 2 (Mentioned only)
- Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
- Halo: Contact Harvest
- Halo Wars
- Halo: Reach
- Halo: Tales from Slipspace
- Halo: Ground Command
- Halo Wars 2 (Mentioned only)
- Halo: Renegades (Mentioned only)
- Halo: Oblivion (Mentioned only)
- Halo: Shadows of Reach
Sources[edit]
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level, The Maw
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 275
- ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 45
- ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 140
- ^ Halo Waypoint: Halo Bulletin 9.24.14
- ^ Spartan Games: Make your Halo table look awesome!
- ^ Halo: Oblivion, chapter 1
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 305
