fusion power

Fusion power

Fusion power, a primary area of research in plasma physics, is power generated by fusion processes. In fusion reactions two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form heavier nucleus, in doing so they release a comparatively  large amount of energy arising from the building energy due to  the strong nuclear force which is manifested as an increase in temperature of reactants.

The term is commonly used to refer to potential commercial production of net usable power from fusion source, similar to the use of term “ steam power “ . The  leading designs for controlled fusion research use magnetic (tokomak design) or inertial (laser) confinement of a plasma, with heat from fusion reactors used to operate a steam turbine which in turn drives electrical generators similar to the process used in   fossil  fuel and nuclear fusion power stations.

Fusion power is  believed to have significant safety advantages over current power stations based on nuclear fusion. Fusion only takes place under very limited and controlled circumstances( by comparison fission, including catastrophic failure, only requires that there is sufficient fuel within small enough (space) for this reason, a failure of precise centre or cessation of fueling quickly shut down fusion power reactors. There is no possibly of run way heat build up or large scale release of radioactivity, little or no atmospheric pollution, the power comprises light elements in small quantities which are easily obtained and largely harmless to life, the waste products are short lived in terms of radioactivity , and there is little overlap with nuclear weapon technology.

Fusion powered electricity  generation was initially believed to be ready achievable, as fusion power had been. However the extreme requirements for continuous reactions and plasma requirement lead to projections being extended by several decades, and more than 60 years after first attempts, commercial power production still believed to be unlikely before 2050.

As of July 2010, the largest  experiment by  means of magnetic confinement has been the joint European Torus ( JET). In megawatts ( 21,600 hp ) of fusion power ( 65 %  of input power) with fusion power of over 10 MW (13,000 hp) sustained for over  0.5 sec. In June 2005, its Successor ITER was announced by seven parties involved in the project - U.S., China, the European (EU), India , Japan, the Russia federation and South Korea.

ITER is designed to produce ten times more fusion power than power put into plasma over many minutes , for example 50 MW of input power to produce 500 MW of out put power. ITER  is currently under construction Cadarache  France. DEMO is intended as next generation of research from ITER , and  to be first reactor demonstrating sustained net energy producing fusion  on a commercial scale. It has been proposed to begin construction of DEMO in 2024.

Inertial ( laser)  confinement, which was for a time seen as more difficult or unfeasible has generally seen less development effort than magnetic approaches. However  this approach made  a come back following further innovation, and is being developed at both the United States National Ignition facility as well as the planned European Union High Power Laser Energy Research ( HIPER) faculty. As 2010 heating 3.3 million Kelvin was achieved  and in October 2010 the first integrated ignition test was announced to have completed successfully with 192 beam laser system firing over  million Joules of ultraviolet laser energy into capsule filled hydrogen fuel. Fusion ignition tests are to follow.

As technology develops fusion power believed to be  available after 2050 , hope let research on fusion power go on.