Nuclear fusion’s energy potential is vast. Scientists believe it could, theoretically, lead to the construction of commercial power plants that would deliver virtually unlimited amounts of energy without leaving a trail of waste behind.
But efforts to harness the technology have been exceedingly slow.
However, a small step forward has been made by scientists at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility operated by San Diego-based General Atomics.
Researchers conducted a first of its kind experiment focusing on a long-observed but little understood mechanism that can enhance the performance of fusion projects, including a multi-national and multi-billion dollar effort under construction in France.
In nuclear fusion, elements such as hydrogen are brought together at extremely high temperatures, causing the nuclei to fuse into heavier elements such as helium. It’s the same process that powers stars like the sun and releases vast amounts of energy.
Researches in places such as the DIII-D facility try to replicate that process — in essence, looking to create a star on Earth by fusing hydrogen isotopes and releasing energy.
Fusion reactors contain a tokamak, an acronym coined by Russian scientists that refers to a doughnut-shaped metal vacuum chamber surrounded by incredibly powerful magnets. Fuel consisting of hydrogen isotopes can be converted into plasma by heating the fuel to more than 100 million degrees Fahrenheit.
Because of the immense heat, the plasma must be confined by the magnetic fields of the tokamak without touching its inside walls.
But for years, researchers have wrestled with a problem: Heat from the plasma particles can leak through the tokamak’s magnetic fields, hampering performance.
This particle movement has been tracked by a phenomenon called ExB (pronounced “E-cross-B”) drifts, offering hints at how to fix the problem.
The General Atomics team recently developed a model to help explain and predict how these drifts can stabilize the edge of the plasma. The scientists then conducted an experiment using recently installed, more sensitive diagnostic devices to confirm the conclusions of the model.
“This discovery is quite significant, because it represents a key element in understanding particle flow around the edge of the plasma,” DIII-D researcher Huiqian Wang, said in a statement. Wang led the study, which could lead to better performance in projects aimed at making commercial nuclear fusion power plants a reality.
One such undertaking is the ITER project (Latin for “the way” and pronounced “eater.”)
Based in southern France and currently under construction, ITER will hold 10 times the plasma volume of the largest machine operating today. The U.S., five other countries plus the European Union are each contributing pieces to the project, estimated to cost at least $25 billion and expected to achieve “first plasma” in 2035.
The U.S. portion of the project includes six superconducting magnet modules being manufactured by General Atomics that will be shipped overseas and stacked atop one another into the heart of the fusion infrastructure.
Wang said the progress made on the ExB front “suggests that we have a pathway toward addressing the challenges of maintaining a stable plasma edge and a high-performance core in future devices like ITER.”
Details of the team’s research were published last week in the physics journal Physical Review Letters.
Nuclear fusion is not to be confused with nuclear fission, the process used to generate electricity in nuclear power plants such as the now-shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Fusion technology was key in the development of the hydrogen bomb but as an energy source, fusion power has been generated only for short periods in the laboratory and no fusion reactors exist. A running industry joke says functioning fusion is always 30 years away.
ITER, for example, will not capture the energy it produces as electricity. Rather, the project looks to prepare the way for power plants that can.
But advocates have described fusion’s potential in epic terms, saying fusion reactors would transform the energy sector by offering an almost infinite supply of power while emitting no greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike fission reactors, fusion leaves behind no long-lived or highly dangerous radioactive waste.
“We’re talking millions of years of fuel,” Mickey Wade, director of advanced fusion systems at General Atomics, told the Union-Tribune in a 2018 interview.
DT on Tue, 26th May 2020 9:49 pm
“A running industry joke says functioning fusion is always 30 years away.” How apropos. If it wasn’t so sad to say.
Anonymouse on Tue, 26th May 2020 11:09 pm
Nuclear fusion’s energy potential is vast. Scientists believe it could, theoretically, lead to the construction of commercial power plants that would deliver virtually unlimited amounts of energy without leaving a trail of waste behind.
LoL, they are again. So many lies and falsehoods crammed into the opening sentence alone. Lying and printing totally false information is as natural as breathing to amerikan ‘journalists’.
Nuclear Fusions potential is only vast on paper. Fusion research has been a huge energy and resource SINK, with not one watt of usable power generated to date to show for it. And with no prospects for that changing in decades, if ever.
-theoretically, lead to the construction of commercial power .
Sure, and if I grew a pair of wings, theoretically I could fly too. Fact is, no one could afford a KW/h of fusion electricity. Not the plant itself, or the resulting power which would be so expensive people would automatically seek cheaper alternatives.
-virtually unlimited amounts of energy without leaving a trail of waste behind.
No it wont be doing that either. Define ‘virtually unlimited’, And a nuclear fusion plant, IF constructed, would leave an enormous trail of hazardous wastes behind it. During construction, normal operation, and long-term disposal. Which fusion does NOT eliminate. Another lie fusion -boosters never tire of repeating.
Most people do not find it terribly difficult to lie sadly. Fusion proponents however, take the idea of disseminating false and misleading information to a whole new level.
JuanP on Tue, 26th May 2020 11:47 pm
“LoL, they are again. So many lies and falsehoods crammed into the opening sentence alone. Lying and printing totally false information is as natural as breathing to”
Sounds like us Anon. Mak, you, and I are pros.
h on Wed, 27th May 2020 12:59 am
Tnx supertards for work on this technology for the love and bennie of supremacist muzzies
Sock Buster on Wed, 27th May 2020 6:05 am
h is juanPee the lunatic
JuanP on Wed, 27th May 2020 12:17 pm
Sock Buster is Deranged davy the stalker
peakyeast on Wed, 27th May 2020 5:17 pm
Energy may be the smallest of all our big problems. But not even that we are close to solving in a meaningful way.
Kevin Cobley on Wed, 27th May 2020 7:30 pm
$25B would have been better spent on Solar Panels and wind turbines.
Jerome Purtzer on Thu, 28th May 2020 4:12 pm
The perfect fusion reactor already exists in the form of the Sun. We harvest electricity in the form of wind and solar and tidal. Wasting money on recreating the Sun on Earth seems redundant in the least. The Holmlids, Father and Son in Sweden have already proven low temperature fusion but are being ignored. Maybe if they learned how to waste more money?
joe on Fri, 29th May 2020 12:53 am
i believe it will work. the old soviets may have been poor idealists, but their math was always sound. i hate communism because its a system of utopians geniuses run by psychotic gangster greedy thugs.
Davy on Fri, 29th May 2020 5:48 am
I believe it will work. The old capitalists may have been poor idealists, but their monopolies were always sound. I hate capitalism because its a system of jew bankster geniuses, run by a bunch of psychotic bible-thumping greedy thugs.
Abraham van Helsing on Fri, 29th May 2020 6:12 am
“i believe it will work. the old soviets may have been poor idealists, but their math was always sound. i hate communism because its a system of utopians geniuses run by psychotic gangster greedy thugs.”
You are not very grateful towards your dear Soviet ally, joe esquire! The UKSSR was the only “European” country that teamed up with these mass-murdering USSR thugs!
https://1d4vws37vmp124vlehygoxxd-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Churchill-and-Stalin-002-768×576.jpg
It looks like that Brexit boobs like joe have been betting on the wrong Anglo-supremacist horse. Soon they will be standing naked, without being backed by an Anglo-American “hinterland” (sorry for the German word, joe), that will have devoluted and carry a German name:
https://documents1940.wordpress.com/2017/09/25/amerikaner/
Amerikaner underway towards their new homeland.
‘Americans’ no longer means anything. All the folks in this video are ‘Americans’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO1agIlLlhg
JuanP on Fri, 29th May 2020 6:54 am
I believe it will work. The old capitalists may have been poor idealists, but their monopolies were always sound. I hate capitalism because its a system of jew bankster geniuses, run by a bunch of psychotic bible-thumping greedy thugs.
JuanP is a Davy sock on Fri, 29th May 2020 6:56 am
Nutter
Nutter on Fri, 29th May 2020 6:59 am
JuanP is an asshole and his activity of lies and stealing prove it
REAL Green on Fri, 29th May 2020 7:07 am
Nutter, JuanP, and Pink Poodle are are Sock Puppets.
Anonymouse on Fri, 29th May 2020 1:26 pm
Davy is one big sock puppet. And delusional, psychotic nutter. Twice the nutter, and 1/2 the brains of a regular nutter.
Davy on Fri, 29th May 2020 3:45 pm
Anon, you are a little bitch that whines continuously like any of this matters. Your comments are lame when you try to be serious and stupid when you try to be humorous. I am so glad you are obsessed over me. This means I control your stupid mind just like with your lunatic friend juanPee.
Anonymouse on Fri, 29th May 2020 4:28 pm
Hey psycho, got one for your dumbass.
Built with pride in the uS o A.
Capitalism!
Free entreprize!
Amerika’s high-tech, can-do, bleeding edge* tech at work.
Next stop – MARS! (or not lol).
https://www.rt.com/usa/490189-spacex-musk-starship-explosion/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome
Its only their 3rd explosion this year, and we still got 6 months to go LOL.
I really hope those (TBA) amerikan made fusion power stations the San Diego Tribune is jizzing about here are built better than Musks roman candles ROFL. But, if you and cloggedanus want to book a ticket on one of Musks ‘starship’s, tell you what, I’ll spring for it. Covid-19 is taking waaaaay too long. Must otoh, looks like he can easily do for you and ‘cloggo’ what CV-19 cannot.
*Actually, fly with musk and bleeding is something you will definitely be doing a lot of.
Davy on Fri, 29th May 2020 4:35 pm
Annoy, why would I give shit about rockets or the degenerate, musk? LMFAO, this time you are lame and stupid. Your daddy Mak-the-wak will enjoy the drivel. He is a uneducated dork like you.
makati1 on Fri, 29th May 2020 6:11 pm
Anon, the closest the US will get to Mars is to buy the candy bar named ‘Mars’, if they still make them.
They are throwing out the Chinese who are the brains in the new designs. All that will be left are dumbed down Amerikans that cannot design something new that actually works.
All of the engineers and chemists that built Amerika’s military and space program are dead or retired. Most of the military stuff was designed and built 40-50 years ago. Nothing new. Ditto for techie stuff. Nothing new, just add-ons and “improvements”. Tape to transistor to chip to….? Ask the Chinese. They will take the next step.
Ah well, fun to watch Amerika sink into the swamp of arrogance, stupidity and hubris. Pass the popcorn. It is getting interesting.
Anonymouse on Fri, 29th May 2020 7:04 pm
Amerika cant make a decent oil burning car, weapons systems that are both affordable and effective(thank goodness for that!), and they sure as hell are not going to Mars on any ‘starship, built by Musk, or anyone else down there. They cant even make decent movies or music anymore, things they used to be somewhat competent at.
Like davys delusional dreams of amerikas greatness or at least adequacy they keep exploding on launch, just like his temper.
Davy on Fri, 29th May 2020 7:16 pm
Well aren’t you talkative today annoy! LOL but still stupid and lame. I am surprised you have not spoke softly to your daddy mak so he can whisper back lovingly..anon. You guys are losers and belong together.
JuanP on Fri, 29th May 2020 7:17 pm
So true Davy so true
Davy on Fri, 29th May 2020 7:25 pm
So true Davy so true
makati1 on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:04 pm
My last post – 6;11pm.
Another sunny Saturday here in the land of eternal summer. 95F and a breeze. ^_^
REAL Green on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:06 pm
Thanks fer bringing out Pink Poodle to play again Davy.
She’s so cute.
LOAO@the dumbass!
makati1 on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:08 pm
My last post – 11;04
Another Saturday here in the land of summer. 105F and no breeze. @_@
makati1 on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:08 pm
actually, it was 8:12 pm about the White House and the CIA.
I am enjoying watching the US disintegrate until it cannot bully the rest of the world. Soon, I hope.
JuanP on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:10 pm
Davy controls my mind. Cus I’m really only one of Davys sock puppets.
Crazy huh?
Nutter on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:11 pm
Yeap. That some real crazy shit JuanP.
JuanP on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:13 pm
I guess I should not have fuck with Davy cause it was Real crazy. Now I have to suck it up everyday. I am tired of being tired. darn
Anonymouse on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:14 pm
So true Juan so True
Nutter on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:47 pm
So true Davy. So true.
makati1 on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:48 pm
“A postage stamp cost one cent. A middle class house was $11,000 and an upper middle class house went fot $20,000. One million dollars was a large fortune. There were no billionaires….Dimes, quarters, and half dollars were silver, and there were silver dollars….When I was five years old I could walk safely one mile to school and home by myself without my parents being arrested by Child Protective Services for child neglect and endangerment.”
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2020/05/28/where-did-my-world-go/#more-218851
“When I was 5 or 6 years old, my mother would send me to the bakery with a dime for a loaf of bread or to the market with 11 cents for a quart of milk. The Saturday afternoon double-feature at the movie house was 10 cents…When it rained we read books. I remember reading Robert Heinlein’s Puppet Masters when I was 12 years old….The kind of freedom I had as a child no longer exists except in remote rural areas…”
My childhood world. Gone forever. Sigh!
NOw: ” I reviewed a recent Publix supermarket bill:”…a loaf of bread $3.89, a dozen organic eggs $4.95, a package of 6 hot dogs $5.49, 8 small tomatos $5.19, a package of baby spinach $4.19, a half gallon of milk $4.59, a package of two paper towel rolls $5.99.
BTW: P’s prices today Bread $1/loaf, XL Eggs $1/doz, 6 hotdogs $1.40, 8 small local tomatoes $0.80, 1/2 gallon milk (from New Zealand) $3.50, 2 rolls of paper towels $1.60. Now you can see why I like it here. ^_^
makati1 on Fri, 29th May 2020 11:52 pm
BTW: MY first middle class home I bought in 1990, cost ~$60,000, in the best school district in Central PA. I had sold the log house, in the same school district, that I bought for ~$20,000 in 1975 and sold in 1990 for ~$75,000. That was Amerika then. Now…?
Davy on Sat, 30th May 2020 2:05 am
No one cares about your stupid leave it to beaver childhood makatoo. While I was busy beating up liberals and communists with wooden clubs, you were already busy plotting against the America that sheltered you and gave you the good, no the BEST life possible.
Now, you are just an old feeble and jealous old man that abandoned his family to live in some AsisDOWN shithole. And all because you are wanted to be a crazed anti-American extremist. I hope it was worth it.
You are a complete failure old man. And soon you will die.
makati1 on Sat, 30th May 2020 3:11 am
It was better than yours Misery jackass. I lived in a free Amerika, not the lock-down police state that exists there in 2020.
I now live in a similar country where kids can be kids and necessities are a reasonable cost and living is safe. Where techie toys are not necessary to have fun (or be distracted into a couch vegetable like in Amerika).
You are just a jealous, frustrated, arrogant, brainwashed goat fucker, Davy. LMAO!
Davy on Sat, 30th May 2020 4:42 am
I hate you makatoo. Slightly less then juanpee. But more then I hate everyone else on this lame unmoderated forum that I spend all my time on.
fuckwacks