The West reactor maintained a plasma circuit in combustion for more than 22 minutes, in a big step in the search for the creation of large amounts of clean energy through nuclear fusion.
The West Fusion Reactor of France established a New World Nuclear Fusion Recordand marking another step forward in searching for almost unlimited clean energy.
The reactor, operated by Commisseriat to L’Energie atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA), kept a combustion circuit For 1 337 seconds – More than 22 minutes – surpassing by 25% the previous Chinese record of 1 066 seconds, established in January.
“West has reached an important new technological framework by maintaining hydrogen plasma during More than twenty minutes Through the 2 MW injection of heating power, ”said Anne-isabelle Etienvre, CEA’s fundamental research director. Since 2 megawatts are enough to feed more than 1000 houses, added that future experiences will aim to even higher power levels.
For over 70 years that scientists seek to take advantage of nuclear fusion – the same source of energy that feeds the stars – as a form of produce large amounts of clean energyrefers to.
Unlike nuclear fission, which divides atoms and produces long -term radioactive waste, fusion works by fusion of hydrogen atoms under extreme temperatures and pressures. The process generates huge amounts of energy gases with the effect of greenhouse or dangerous by -products.
However, the recreation of the intense conditions within the stars has great technical challenges. The fusion reactors, the most advanced of which the tokamaks are, contain overheated plasma – an electrically charged state of matter – inside breadcrumbs, using powerful magnetic fields. Tokamak West reached its record by keeping plasma made of heavy hydrogen isotopes at temperatures higher than 50 million degrees Celsius for more than 22 minutes.
Although plasma heating at extreme temperatures is relatively simple, keep it stable without damaging the reactor It is much harder. Normally, scientists use magnetic fields or high power lasers to contain plasma without disturbing the melting process.
This last discovery brings the world closer to practical nuclear fusion energy and supports the ongoing development of the International Experimental Thermonuclear Reactor (Iter). The Iter project, a collaboration between China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, aims to build the larger and more advanced melting reactor to date. Initially planned to operate in 2020, the Iter’s real scale test was postponed to 2039.
“This excellent result allows West and the French community to lead the way to future use of the Iter”Said Etienvre.
