This is a summary for a seminar
Introduction:
Nuclear fusion is a very clean way to produce energy, in comparison to those energy production processes that might cause pollution or high costs, such as coal or oil. Nuclear fusion requires a low carbon cost with very low fuel, not only reducing the amount of greenhouse gas but also decreasing the pollution to the surroundings.
Nowadays, people scientists from different countries who are interested in the nuclear fusion are progressing a plan to build a huge reactor, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject would produce high temperature with high power, but this requires finical support.
Summary of seminar:
Gutterfelder started to explain what the reason is for choosing nuclear fusion to provide energy. Global warming and climate concerns might be the most powerful reason for this issue. As we know fusion comes with strongly repulsive electrostatics forces to fuse atomic nuclei. Therefore, one condition must be satisfied for the nuclei to overcome the electric forces in very close range of each other.
Once we have the motivation to use nuclear fusion, we also will find out the process has no carbon emissions and fuel is abundant for thousands of years. Fusion energy is inherently safe in the device, ITER, with very low level radioactive material compared to nuclear fission. When compared to non-carbon renewables, fusion, such as solar and wind, is compact and continuous.
But nothing is perfect The disadvantage is nuclear fusion is way too hot As a solution, plasma is used since it is stable, mature and qualitatively different than neutral gas due to collective interactions and interactions with electric and magnetic fields. Plasma is a gas of charged particles. It is also very mature in several products, for example, lighting, neon signs, television, and Aurora. Plasma exists over a broad range of density and temperatures, a very wide range in physics.
The way for us to create and contain hot plasma in the earth to produce a fusion plasma is to build an appropriate magnetic field. Because the magnetic field confines particles away from boundaries, instead of using a huge amount of volume to establish the field, a bending donut-shaped magnetic field can confine high temperature plasma with the goal of producing large fusion power. After the magnetically confined plasma is created, mini particle accelerators and neutral beam injectors are used to heat plasma, which will have achieved sufficient temperatures. How to control the power is also a key factor, because power balance in a fusion reactor is also an impartment parameter. In conclusion, the next step for ITER is being built to study “burning plasma” with self-heating via energetic particles.
An outlook on how these innovations be applied:
After overcoming the heat emitted from the fusion plasma, this innovation will be able to provide a clean and safe environment for following generations, which will require using fusion power. Not only is the resource abundant, but the developing of nuclear fusion energy will also take us to a whole new world.
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