Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion Reactor
Scientists in the United Kingdom have managed to produce the largest amount of energy so far from a nuclear fusion reaction, the same process that makes the Sun, and all other stars, shine and emit energy. This result is being seen as a major breakthrough in the ongoing global efforts to produce a fusion nuclear reactor.
What is nuclear fusion?
- Nuclear fusion is defined as the combining of several small nuclei into one large nucleus with the subsequent release of huge amounts of energy.
- It is the opposite reaction of fission, where heavy isotopes are split apart.
- Harnessing fusion, the process that powers the Sun, could provide a limitless, clean energy source.
Location of the project:
- The JET (Joint European Torus facility) site is the largest operational one of its kind in the world.
- The energy was produced in a machine called a tokamak, a doughnut-shaped apparatus.
- The record and scientific data from these crucial experiments are a major boost for ITER (International thermonuclear experimental reactor) the larger and more advanced version of the JET.
| International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is a collaboration of 35 nations launched in 1985.
It is located in France. Aim: It aims to build the world’s largest tokamak to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy. The ITER members include China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. They also share the experimental results and any intellectual property generated by the fabrication, construction and operation phases. |
Advantages:
- Abundant energy: Fusing atoms together in a controlled way releases nearly four million times more energy than a chemical reaction.
- Fusion doesn’t emit harmful toxins like carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
- Fusion fuels are widely available and nearly inexhaustible. EG: Deuterium can be distilled from all forms of water.
- Nuclear fusion reactors produce no high activity, long-lived nuclear waste.
Issues:
- Fusion is possible only at very high temperatures, the kind of temperature that exists at the core of the sun. Reaching such temperatures is very difficult.
- The materials that make up the reactor will also need to be able to withstand such huge amounts of energy.
- At such high temperatures, matter only exists in the state of plasma. Plasma which has a tendency to expand very fast is extremely difficult to handle and work with.
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