thermonuclear reaction

American  

noun

Chemistry, Physics.

1. a nuclear-fusion reaction that takes place between the nuclei of a gas, especially hydrogen, heated to a temperature of several million degrees.

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thermonuclear reaction British  

noun

1. a nuclear fusion reaction occurring at a very high temperature: responsible for the energy produced in the sun, nuclear weapons, and fusion reactors See nuclear fusion hydrogen bomb

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thermonuclear reaction Cultural  

1. A reaction between nuclei, usually fusion, which releases very large amounts of energy.

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Example Sentences

This thermonuclear reaction creates vast amounts of light and heat, allowing our home star to shine.

From Scientific American • Nov. 10, 2023

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced Tuesday that they had made a major breakthrough in studying fusion, a.k.a. the thermonuclear reaction that keeps the sun going.

From New York Times • Dec. 13, 2022

Fusion is the thermonuclear reaction that powers the sun and other stars — the fusing of hydrogen atoms into helium.

From New York Times • Dec. 12, 2022

Opatrný says using the radiation from accretion disks would be particularly clever, because the disks convert energy more efficiently than the thermonuclear reaction in conventional stars.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 16, 2021

At some time during its first years, Mercury had been so close to the sun that its temperature was driven high enough to permit a subatomic thermonuclear reaction.

From Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet by Goodwin, Harold L. (Harold Leland)