Fusion reactor

A fusion reactor is a type of nuclear power plant that uses nuclear fusion for power generation.

Usage
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. 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. 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. [GEN2] Mjolnir armor are equipped with a compact fusion reactor installed in the back of the armor's torso carapace. 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. Manufacture of these small-scale fusion reactors requires the use of xenotime, a critical ore.

The Covenant employ another type of fusion power plant, known as the pinch fusion reactor, to power their starships and other machines.

Trivia
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

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: First Strike
 * Halo 2
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Tales from Slipspace
 * On the Brink
 * Halo: Ground Command
 * Halo Wars 2
 * Halo: Renegades
 * Halo: Oblivion
 * Halo: Shadows of Reach