For every star in the sky, there is a fusion reactor producing energy, a process little understood until Albert Einstein’s brilliance revealed the relationship between mass and energy. To release the energy locked in the atom, fission or fusion can be used. The heavy atoms of uranium are split in fission reactors, which presently supply about a fifth of our electrical energy in the USA.
Fusion, on the other hand, is the same method our sun uses to produce energy from light elements like hydrogen. A different recipe for fusion on Earth is used than on the Sun, employing heavy forms of hydrogen at lower temperatures. Protium, the normal form of hydrogen, has one proton and one electron, but Deuterium also has one neutron, and Tritium has two neutrons. In a fusion reactor, these forms of hydrogen enter a plasma state with temperatures on the order of 100 million Kelvin, so hot that magnetic fields must be used to contain it. The plasma is contained in a structure called a torus, related in principle to a donut-shaped toroid, a magnetic core that is self-shielding. Under ideal conditions of plasma temperature, density, and confinement time, the Deuterium and Tritium nuclei fuse, and then release energy in a reaction that creates more stable products, a Helium atom and a free neutron. Fusion reactors usually employ a combination of techniques to heat the plasma to the point where the reaction produces it’s own heat and is self-sustaining. As an alternative to fossil fuels, the advantages of fusion energy are numerous and compelling:
No air pollution or CO2 is generated.
The fusion reactant Deuterium is present in great quantities in water, and the reactant Tritium can be made from Lithium, also an abundant source.
Weapons-grade material isn’t produced by fusion.
Potential for nuclear accidents is zero due to the controlled amounts of reactants and the inherent cooling of the plasma against the walls of the torus.
No radioactive waste is produced.
The prevailing atmosphere in fusion research is one of synergism and shared participation. For an international list of fusion research facilities, link to: http://www.fusion.org.uk/links/
The largest fusion reactor in the world is in Culham, UK, known as JET, the Joint European Torus. In 1991, JET became the first fusion experiment in the world to achieve the large-scale production of fusion energy. JET has achieved a Q of .65, a ratio formed by fusion energy divided by external heating energy. For more information on JET: http://www.jet.efda.org/
The capabilities of JET will be exceeded by ITER, the next generation fusion experiment, planned to be the first to produce net power with a Q of ten. The joint undertaking will be truly an international affair, including the European Union, USA, China, Korea, Japan, and the Russian Federation. The ITER fusion reactor will be located in Cadarache in Southern France. The ITER webpage: http://www.iter.org/index.htm
The long-range plans are to provide fusion-generated electricity as a substitute for fossil fuels within the next 30-40 years. There may be energy surprises lurking in the controversial phenomena of cold fusion, and on another front, from the bizarre revelation that organisms can sprout conductive “nanowires” to form electric communities: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060710181540.htm

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 8:50 pm and is filed under Energy Future, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.