'Critical phase' for Iter fusion dream

 

The world's largest bid to harness the power of fusion has entered a "critical" phase in southern France.

The Iter project at Cadarache in Provence is receiving the first of about one million components for its experimental reactor.

 

Now the Iter reactor will put that to the test. Known as a "tokamak", it is based on the design of Jet, a European pilot project at Culham in Oxfordshire.

It will involve creating a plasma of superheated gas reaching temperatures of more than 200 million C - conditions hot enough to force deuterium and tritium atoms to fuse together and release energy.

The whole process will take place inside a giant magnetic field in the shape of a ring - the only way such extreme heat can be contained.

The plant at JET has managed to achieve fusion reactions in very short bursts but required the use of more power than it was able to produce.

The reactor at Iter is on a much larger scale and is designed to generate 10 times more power - 500 MW - than it will consume.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim.

 

Well a lot safer than fission.

 

There's no chance of any kind of detonation. There is some radiation to deal with but it's barely an issue compared with fission.

 

Hot yes, the plasma is contained by magnetic fields. If those fields failed, it would be a disaster for the reactor but not an issue in terms of any kind of environmental disaster. I doubt there would even be much risk to personnel.

 

We have achieved ignition before of course, at Jet. But Jet required more energy in than it provided in terms of output. If it all goes to plan, this guy should generate more energy than we put in. If so, if successful, it will be the first step toward a commercial reactor.

 

Hopefully the old joke that fusion is always 30 years away will be a thing of the past.

 

Who knows where the future will lead though. There are amazing breakthroughs on the way in regard to photovoltaic cells, energy storage etc. It is conceivable, that in the future we may not require as many full scale reactors as we envisage.