Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60312633

The UK-based JET laboratory has smashed its own world record for the amount of energy it can extract by squeezing together two forms of hydrogen.

If nuclear fusion can be successfully recreated on Earth it holds out the potential of virtually unlimited supplies of low-carbon, low-radiation energy.

The experiments produced 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds (11 megawatts of power).

This is more than double what was achieved in similar tests back in 1997.

It's not a massive energy output - only enough to boil about 60 kettles' worth of water. But the significance is that it validates design choices that have been made for an even bigger fusion reactor now being constructed in France.

"The JET experiments put us a step closer to fusion power," said Dr Joe Milnes, the head of operations at the reactor lab. "We've demonstrated that we can create a mini star inside of our machine and hold it there for five seconds and get high performance, which really takes us into a new realm."

The ITER facility in southern France is supported by a consortium of world governments, including from EU member states, the US, China and Russia. It is expected to be the last step in proving nuclear fusion can become a reliable energy provider in the second half of this century.

...

Fusion reactions in the lab famously consume more energy to initiate than they can output. At Jet, two 500 megawatt flywheels are used to run the experiments.

But there is solid evidence that this deficit can be overcome in the future as the plasmas are scaled up. ITER's toroidal vessel volume will be 10 times that of JET. It's hoped the French lab will get to breakeven. The commercial power plants that come after should then show a net gain that could be fed into electricity grids.

This is a long game and it's significant that of the 300 or so scientists working as JET, a quarter are in the early part of their careers. They will have to carry the baton of research forward.

"Fusion takes a long time, it is complex, it is difficult," said Dr Athina Kappatou, who's in her thirties. "This is why we have to ensure that from one generation to the next, there are the scientists, there are the engineers and the technical staff who can take things forward."

Many technical challenges remain, however. In Europe, these challenges are being worked on by the Eurofusion consortium, which comprises some 5,000 science and engineering experts from across the EU, Switzerland and Ukraine.

Seems like good news. The article does mention it's not a player in the net zero goal of 2050 due to time constraints but at least it sounds like they are optimistic in the second half of the century this will be available, and will likely become more efficient as they work through the process.

[GeddyWrox]

I thought I read an article a while back that some team thought they were like 10 years or so from having a viable fusion reactor ready for prime time.

I remember thinking "Doubtful" when I read the article. But I do wonder where that project is at currently.

[GeddyWrox]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... scientists

Found this link from last year. Team of scientists *claim* they are 15 years away from having a commercially viable fusion reactor.

Other scientists sound doubtful.

The dream of nuclear fusion is on the brink of being realised, according to a major new US initiative that says it will put fusion power on the grid within 15 years.

The project, a collaboration between scientists at MIT and a private company, will take a radically different approach to other efforts to transform fusion from an expensive science experiment into a viable commercial energy source. The team intend to use a new class of high-temperature superconductors they predict will allow them to create the world’s first fusion reactor that produces more energy than needs to be put in to get the fusion reaction going.

Bob Mumgaard, CEO of the private company Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which has attracted $50 million in support of this effort from the Italian energy company Eni, said: “The aspiration is to have a working power plant in time to combat climate change. We think we have the science, speed and scale to put carbon-free fusion power on the grid in 15 years.”

LOL, all I had to do was go back in this very thread. I posted this a couple years ago.

[GeddyWrox]

A google search for the company mentioned in that article from 2019 shows they are still making progress and are very optimistic.

https://cfs.energy/news-and-media/commo ... es-b-round

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced it has closed on more than $1.8 billion in Series B funding to commercialize fusion energy. This includes capital to construct, commission, and operate SPARC, the world’s first commercially relevant net energy fusion machine. In addition, it will enable the company to begin work on ARC, the first commercial fusion power plant, which includes developing support technologies, advancing the design, identifying the site, and assembling the partners and customers for the future of fusion power.

The round was led by Tiger Global Management with participation by new investors, including (in alphabetical order) Bill Gates; Coatue; DFJ Growth; Emerson Collective; Footprint Coalition; Google; JIMCO Technology Fund, part of JIMCO, the Jameel Family’s global investment arm; John Doerr; JS Capital; Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures; Senator Investment Group; a major university endowment; and a pension plan; as well as current investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures; The Engine; Eni; Equinor Ventures; Fine Structure Ventures; Future Ventures; Hostplus; Khosla Ventures; Lowercarbon; Moore Strategic Ventures; Safar Partners; Schooner Capital; Soros Fund Management LLC; Starlight Ventures; Temasek; and others committed to the commercialization of fusion energy to mitigate climate change.

CFS’s path to commercial fusion energy:

- 2018: Company founded based on decades of MIT fusion research
- 2020: Published a series of peer reviewed publications in the Journal of Plasma Physics that verifies SPARC will achieve net energy from fusion
- 2021: Started construction on campus that will host the SPARC building, a manufacturing facility, and company headquarters
- 2021: In collaboration with MIT, built and successfully demonstrated groundbreaking high temperature superconducting magnets, the strongest of their kind and the key technology to unlock commercial fusion energy
- 2025: SPARC achieves commercially relevant net energy from fusion
- Early 2030s: First fusion power plant, called ARC, is completed

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Noice!!

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Where's @Swirls at?

Is fusion so drastically different from fission (I mean, obviously, yes) but is it, from an engineering perspective a completely different field.

Let's say in a hypothetical scenario 2035 sees fusion plants coming online. Will nuke plant operators/engineers of today be able to be trained for the fusion plants or is that akin to taking a coal plant operator and teaching him/her how to run a nuke plant?

[go birds]

george soros and bill gates...what could possibly go wrong

[TGantz]

george soros and bill gates...what could possibly go wrong

I feel like I'm living out a bad movie. I don't even have words for it anymore.

[Popeye_Card]

george soros and bill gates...what could possibly go wrong

Is there a reason why we should mistrust either of them?

[GeddyWrox]

Plus, they only donated to the fund. It's not like they're leading the research. The company was born out of MIT. These people sound legit.

That said, I am still of the mind that their timeline is overly optimistic. That 2025 date will be really telling. Net+ energy production is the holy grail.