Nuclear Fusion Energy: Scientists in the United Kingdom recently stated that they have achieved a new milestone in producing nuclear fusion energy, or imitating the way energy is produced in the sun.
Key Points:
- A team at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility near Oxford in central England generated 59 mega joules of energy from a fusion reaction over five seconds (11 megawatts of power).
- It exceeded the previous mark of just less than 22 megajoules of total energy achieved in 1997.
- With this, the company has smashed its own world record.
- With this, the company has become capable of creating a mini star and holds it there for five seconds.
- The record and scientific data from these crucial experiments are a major boost for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the larger and more advanced version of the JET.
About ITER:
- The ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which will be the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment.
- It is supported by seven members — China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the U.S. — and based in the south of France.
- It seeks to further demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy.
How was the experiment carried out?
- No material on the earth can withstand 100 million degree Celsius.
- Therefore, in order to conduct the fusion reaction, the scientists created a solution having super-heated gas or plasma in a machine called a Tokamak, a doughnut-shaped apparatus.
- The tokamak is surrounded by giant magnets that confine and circulate the superheated, ionized plasma, away from the metal walls.
Note: A kilogram of fusion fuel contains about 10 million times as much energy as a kilogram of coal, oil, or gas.Â
About JET Site:
- The JET site is the largest operational one of its kind in the world.
- It is the largest and most successful fusion experiment in the world, achieved the first ever controlled release of fusion power in 1991.
Fusion reaction:
- Nuclear fusion power works by colliding heavy hydrogen atoms to form helium, releasing vast amounts of energy, mimicking the process that occurs naturally in the centre of stars like our sun.
Significance:
- Energy by nuclear fusion is one of mankind’s long standing quests of trying to develop fusion energy as a viable power source.
- Unlike the burning of fossil fuels or the fission process of existing nuclear power plants, fusion offers the prospect of abundant energy without pollution, radioactive waste or greenhouse gases.
Artificial Sun:
- In 2021, China's ‘artificial sun’ nuclear fusion reactor in Hefei also set a new world record after running at 126 million°F (70 million°C) for 1,056 seconds — more than 17 minutes.
- The fusion reactor was named EAST, Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokmak.
- South Korea also has its own ‘artificial sun’, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), which has run at 180million°F (100million°C) for 20 seconds.