Nuclear energy has long been seen as the first choice for "inexhaustible" clean energy. However, due to the technical level, the equipment level or the unprecedented blank practice perspective, the use of more is more easily achieved nuclear fission methods, nuclear fusion has always stayed at the utopian level. But it turns out that since the concept of nuclear fusion began to emerge in the 1920s, humans have been constantly exploring the field. No, the latest fusion experiment finally made its debut and refreshed the relevant data of similar experiments since 1997.
Nuclear fusion reactor: INSIDE OF JET with superimposed plasma. Source: UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)
What is even more exciting is that the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor ITER will have more reference for future nuclear fusion experiments because of the success of this mini version of the "artificial sun" experiment, and then economic benefits, humanistic benefits and even a larger global human gospel: the climate crisis problem will also be solved. So what happened to this experiment? What has been achieved and what are the challenges of large-scale adoption in the future? Let's take a look at it with rubik's cube.
The world's first "deuterium tritium" nuclear fusion experiment set a new record! "Artificial sun" 5 seconds output 59 MJ, how bullish is it?
According to foreign media reports, on February 9, local time, the world's three major nuclear fusion research and development organizations - the European Fusion R&D Innovation Alliance (EUROfusion), the British Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the International Thermonuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor (ITER) held a joint press conference to announce the good news: the European Joint Ring Reactor (JET) produced a stable plasma with an energy of 59 megajoules in 5 seconds! Expressed in power units, it can be converted into an average power output of 11 MW in 5 seconds, that is, 2200 kWh of electricity can be produced in 1 second. This marked the possibility of nuclear fusion, and the important landmark event with a practical level.
In addition, in terms of the total energy value of the output, this is the world's first "deuterium tritium" nuclear fusion experiment. Since 1997, this was the first "tritium tritium" nuclear fusion experiment, but the first battle was a blockbuster. It is reported that JET has always been positioned as a mini version of the world's largest nuclear fusion project, the International Thermonuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor (ITER) program ("artificial sun"), which produces nuclear fusion energy equivalent to a wind turbine, which can provide a house with energy for a whole day, and if nuclear fusion is repeated, the energy generated can also provide all the house electricity for the entire city.
ITER project
Imagine if the ITER program is successful by then, the amount of clean energy generated by it is unimaginable. The good news is that the nuclear fusion fuel elements used in the JET experiment are mainly deuterium and tritium. First, they are all isotopes of hydrogen and are very clean. Second, in terms of earth's reserves, these two elements are extracted from the sea, which contains about one deuterium atom for every 6500 hydrogen atoms, and its total can reach 45 trillion tons.
From the experimental data, the potential energy of the deuterium atoms in every 1 cubic meter of seawater is equivalent to the energy generated by the combustion of 1.36 trillion barrels of crude oil, which is the total reserves of oil on the earth. In terms of the rate of world energy consumption, the deuterium nuclear fusion energy in seawater alone is enough for tens of billions of years. Another element, tritium, can also be made of lithium, which is probably more than 200 billion tons of lithium on Earth. So overall, the fusion of these two elements in the future is very likely to achieve commercial scale. This means that it is possible for the energy source on Earth to be completely clean and continue to do so.
What is the significance of the success of the JET fusion experiment? What are the hidden challenges of commercialization of nuclear fusion?
Naturally, JET fusion is limited in size, so the energy it produces is also limited. But it has a significant significance, which is to pave the way for itER, the world's largest fusion reactor currently under construction. Jet's goal is to generate and sustain nuclear fusion, while ITER's goal is to generate a 10-fold energy return through 50 megawatts of fuel, i.e. 500 megawatts of fusion power. According to the plan, JET may be abandoned after 2023, while ITER will take over the nuclear fusion experiment in 2025 or soon after.
Internal structure of the ITER reactor
In addition, the JET fusion experiment has also brought a global human gospel. Ian Chapman, chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, said it was a landmark event. Mark, a researcher at Imperial College, also said that the experiment made nuclear fusion no longer a distant dream. Many other scientists also said that the results of the experiment have made the latest report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half in a decade and reaching zero net emissions by 2050 is possible, and the climate crisis may be solved by it.
IPCC Climate Warning
It is worth mentioning that although the benefits of nuclear fusion are surprising, scientists also point out that there are three major challenges to achieving the ultimate "commercialization goal" and "clean energy goal" in the future! One is the high-temperature-resistant equipment needed for nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion fuels deuterium and tritium must be kept within 200 million degrees Fahrenheit, or 100 million degrees Celsius (the solar core temperature is about 20 million degrees Celsius), to integrate capacity, and how to build such a high-temperature-resistant device is a worldwide problem. For now, only the European Joint Ring Reactor (JET) in the UK has done this.
Tasks undertaken by countries in ITER
Second, the second challenge is to focus on how to increase the power of nuclear fusion and reduce the production cost of nuclear fusion, so as to achieve commercial scale. If the ability to generate sustained energy is the basis, then increasing power and reducing costs is the basis for eventual commercialization. However, for now, according to the relevant survey of the world energy market, the current annual output value is about 5-10 trillion euros, while the total expenditure accounts for only 0.5%, including the ITER nuclear fusion research has only invested 1.5 billion euros. Insufficient investment is therefore the third challenge of nuclear fusion eventually globalizing and resolving the climate crisis.
summary
All in all, the success of nuclear fusion is indeed another milestone in human history. The climate crisis, which is globally focused, does not have a panacea for resolution, but nuclear fusion may be the closest approach. It is precisely for this reason that from this level, we have only now touched the threshold, and there are still many challenges to achieve the goal in the future, and these problems also need to be solved by concentrating on each one.
Anyway, this is indeed great news. We salute the researchers and look forward to the good news brought to us by ITER, the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor, after continuous efforts to ensure the safety of nuclear fusion.