Grady Hillhouse of Practical Engineering fame is joined by Jade from "Up and Atom" in a discussion of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program in southern France. ITER...
ITER is an international scientific collaboration that seeks to research how nuclear fusion can be used to generate electricity. The specific project Hillhouse explores is the construction of a "tokamak," a torus-shaped chamber that uses an advanced magnetic field to control plasma in such a way that its heat output can be used to generate electricity. This system is distinct from nuclear fission – the generation method used by contemporary nuclear power plants – in the way it harnesses atomic nuclei, in that its reactors cannot "melt down," and in that it does not produce nuclear waste.
I think we've all been hearing about nuclear fusion being just around the corner for decades now, but ITER is apparently "the largest of more than 100 fusion reactors built since the 1950s, with ten times the plasma volume of any other tokamak operating today" (per Wikipedia). The project's goal is to generate a "gain" or heating output 10 times that of the atomic energy used as input in the machine (the current record is 1.5). As I understand it, this is not necessarily a net energy gain due to the energy used to initiate the reaction, but would be a significant and necessary milestone nonetheless.
ITER is under construction right now and will begin test operations in 2025. The scientists hope to generate fusion by 2035. ITER is expected to be succeeded by a decentralized set of programs collectively referred to as DEMO, a broad classification of reactors that will use the knowledge acquired by ITER to experimentally generate a net production of electrical power from nuclear fusion. Net production would involve self-sustaining plasma reactions (i.e. lower requirements for external energy input), which ITER is expected to partially demonstrate. The timeline for DEMO is apparently to demonstrate fusion as a potentially meaningful part of our energy mix in 2051. Commercial applications of nuclear fusion would follow.
While there are plenty of private companies looking to achieve fusion right now, I wouldn't count on the technology coming around soon enough to single-handedly pick up the slack from fossil fuels (which we should abandon as quickly as possible). For that, we'll have to rely on traditional renewable energy like wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal, as well as conventional nuclear fission power plants.
Grady Hillhouse of Practical Engineering fame is joined by Jade from "Up and Atom" in a discussion of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program in southern France.
ITER is an international scientific collaboration that seeks to research how nuclear fusion can be used to generate electricity. The specific project Hillhouse explores is the construction of a "tokamak," a torus-shaped chamber that uses an advanced magnetic field to control plasma in such a way that its heat output can be used to generate electricity. This system is distinct from nuclear fission – the generation method used by contemporary nuclear power plants – in the way it harnesses atomic nuclei, in that its reactors cannot "melt down," and in that it does not produce nuclear waste.
I think we've all been hearing about nuclear fusion being just around the corner for decades now, but ITER is apparently "the largest of more than 100 fusion reactors built since the 1950s, with ten times the plasma volume of any other tokamak operating today" (per Wikipedia). The project's goal is to generate a "gain" or heating output 10 times that of the atomic energy used as input in the machine (the current record is 1.5). As I understand it, this is not necessarily a net energy gain due to the energy used to initiate the reaction, but would be a significant and necessary milestone nonetheless.
ITER is under construction right now and will begin test operations in 2025. The scientists hope to generate fusion by 2035. ITER is expected to be succeeded by a decentralized set of programs collectively referred to as DEMO, a broad classification of reactors that will use the knowledge acquired by ITER to experimentally generate a net production of electrical power from nuclear fusion. Net production would involve self-sustaining plasma reactions (i.e. lower requirements for external energy input), which ITER is expected to partially demonstrate. The timeline for DEMO is apparently to demonstrate fusion as a potentially meaningful part of our energy mix in 2051. Commercial applications of nuclear fusion would follow.
While there are plenty of private companies looking to achieve fusion right now, I wouldn't count on the technology coming around soon enough to single-handedly pick up the slack from fossil fuels (which we should abandon as quickly as possible). For that, we'll have to rely on traditional renewable energy like wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal, as well as conventional nuclear fission power plants.