Can fusion really work - Fusion Ignition story

Updates on nuclear fusion and some potential breakthroughs

 Can fusion really work - Fusion Ignition story

---

• The story: When researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (that operates the National Ignition Facility in California, US) demonstrated “fusion ignition” for the first time, the breakthrough brought the world closer to the dream of near-limitless clean energy through nuclear fusion. It's been a longstanding dream to have commercially viable fusion solutions.
• The experiment: Researchers applied laser energy on fuel pellets to heat and pressurise them at conditions similar to that at the centre of our Sun, and triggered the fusion reactions. These released positively charged particles called alpha particles (helium), which in turn heated the surrounding plasma. The heated plasma also released alpha particles and a self-sustaining reaction called ignition took place. Ignition helps amplify the energy output from the nuclear fusion reaction and this could help provide clean energy for the future.
• Importance: Reproducing the conditions at the centre of the Sun will allow - (i) studying plasma, the state of matter that has never been created in the lab before, (ii) gaining insights into quantum states of matter, and (iii) studying conditions closer and closer to the beginning of the Big Bang.
• Nuclear fusion: It 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, and change civilisation forever. In the sun, the extreme pressure produced by its immense gravity creates the conditions for fusion to happen.

1. Fusion reactions take place in a state of matter called plasma. Plasma is a hot, charged gas made of positive ions and free-moving electrons that has unique properties distinct from solids, liquids and gases.
2. At high temperatures, electrons are ripped from atom’s nuclei and become a plasma or an ionised state of matter. Plasma is also known as the fourth state of matter.

• Why strive for fusion: Fusing atoms together in a controlled way releases nearly four million times more energy than a chemical reaction such as the burning of coal, oil or gas and four times as much as nuclear fission reactions (at equal mass). So, it has the potential to provide the kind of baseload energy needed to provide electricity to the cities and the industries. Fusion fuels are widely available and nearly inexhaustible. Deuterium can be distilled from all forms of water, while tritium will be produced during the fusion reaction as fusion neutrons interact with lithium. Fusion also doesn't emit harmful toxins like carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Its major by-product is helium: an inert, non-toxic gas. Nuclear fusion reactors produce no high activity, long-lived nuclear waste. Fusion doesn't employ fissile materials like uranium and plutonium (Radioactive tritium is neither a fissile nor a fissionable material). It is difficult enough to reach and maintain the precise conditions necessary for fusion—if any disturbance occurs, the plasma cools within seconds and the reaction stops.
• International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Assembly: 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.
• China’s Artificial Sun: The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) device designed by China replicates the nuclear fusion process carried out by the sun.

 

 

Join PT courses | PT Youtube | PT App | Contribute |  Testimonials