If you’ve seen Spiderman 2 (Tobey Maguire era), Dr Octavius
seeks to perfect sustained nuclear fusion, although it goes horribly wrong for
him it’s not solely in the realms of science fiction.
There are massive multinational projects currently focussing
on perfecting just the same; sustained nuclear fusion.
The basic science behind nuclear fusion is when two light
nuclei are fused together to form one heavier atom. This is the process that
occurs in our sun and other stars where hydrogen nuclei are combined to form
helium.
To achieve high enough fusion reaction rates to make
fusion useful as an energy source, the fuel (two types of hydrogen – deuterium
and tritium) must be heated to temperatures over 100 million degrees
Celsius where it becomes a plasma.
This must be kept in a magnatised chamber to prevent
it coming into contact with any surfaces; this is called a tokamek (figure 1).
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| Figure 1: A tokamek (CCFE, 2013) |
You’re probably asking, why is he telling us this?
Well, if nuclear fusion is perfected as a fuel source
it has the capability of providing an endless, worldwide supply of waste free,
carbon free fuel with deuterium and tritium being practically endless in
supply (CCFE, 2013).
If fusion power is perfected it will be one of the
biggest feats of science and would, I think, become the biggest scientific
breakthrough of this century, assuming it happens this century, although it
looks very likely.
Currently International fusion research is following a
roadmap to achieve power generation within 30 years. It focuses on three main
projects:
- ITER – a multinational project that is being built in the south of France. ITER will be a 500 megawatt tokamak (equivalent to a small power plant) and aims to confirm that fusion power will be possible on a commercial scale;
- IFMIF (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility) – a device that will test the materials needed in a fusion power station, planned to operate in parallel with ITER;
- DEMO – a demonstration power plant supplying fusion electricity to the grid. This is being designed now and would be constructed during ITER and IFMIF operation. If successful, it will be followed by the first generation of commercial fusion power stations.
The timelines and the scientific basis seem very promising
as breakthroughs are being made on a monthly basis. Despite the costs there
seems to be massive multinational interest in fusion projects.
As I said before, if it is perfected it will be a huge
scientific breakthrough and could lead to a perfectly sustainable future!.....
Here’s hoping.
Here are some links to the projects worldwide:
News articles:
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