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Solve the energy problem in the future? Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA.
It is a milestone on the road to clean energy. Scientists in the United States have made a historic breakthrough in the field of nuclear fusion. For the first time, the fusion of atomic nuclei produced more energy than was consumed, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced in Washington on Tuesday. “Simply put, this is one of the most impressive scientific achievements of the 21st century.”
The results, obtained by a team of researchers at the state’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) at California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, mark a milestone on the path to unlocking a new energy source. Within a few years, nuclear fusion could be used to generate large amounts of electricity in a safe, climate-neutral manner. However, it will likely be a long way to mass production because major technical hurdles remain.
Almost a year ago, nuclear fusion progress was announced at the institute. A research team reported in the journal “Nature” at the beginning of the year that the plasma ignited. This eventually results in a self-fusion reaction. In a nuclear fusion reactor, the fuel is in the form of plasma – this state of aggregation is created when the gas is superheated.
Nuclear fusion instead of nuclear energy
Both nuclear energy and nuclear fusion derive energy from the binding forces of the atomic nucleus. But with nuclear power, large atoms are split apart, radioactive waste is produced, among other things, and there is a risk of serious accidents. On the other hand, in nuclear fusion, small atomic nuclei fuse to form larger nuclei. The technology is clean and safe. This form of energy generation is similar to the physical processes in stars like the sun.
For their experiments, the California researchers used the world’s most powerful laser system to convert trace amounts of heavy and heavy hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) into plasma at a temperature of about a million degrees. In the process, several lasers heat the inside of a vessel a few millimeters in size.
It is likely that the power plants will only be operational in 30 years
But it will still be a long time before electricity is generated by such nuclear fusion. Yves Martin, deputy director of the Swiss Plasma Center at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), told Keystone news agency that fusion power plants are not expected to last for another 30 years. However, the result is a great achievement.
“The experiment definitively proves that energy can be produced through nuclear fusion,” says Martin. However, gaining power is only about the basic experience, Martin continued. The total power requirements of the California Experimental Reactor are currently approximately 200 times greater than the power generated. In producing electricity, more energy is lost in different steps. For example, with a laser, where much more energy is used than it eventually reaches the nucleus of an atom. The same applies to turbines, which must be driven by the heat generated by nuclear fusion.
“We expect to be able to build the first prototype in 2050,” says the expert. Success in the United States does not change this schedule. (SDA, jwg)
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