Nuclear energy is the newest form of energy that we use today. Our Nuclear power plants are composed of fission energy which is when energy is released from the splitting of a dense nucleus, as we discussed in our previous post on Nuclear Fission Power Plants which are a nonrenewable source of energy. Now we are going to talk about Nuclear Fusion Energy and if it is possible and what that means for our energy future.
Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei of low atomic numbers fuse together to form a heavier nuclease with the release of energy. A common example of nuclear fusion is the sun. This specific type of fusion that takes place in the suns core is proton-proton fusion. The protons fuse together a form helium and releases energy. On earth, nuclear fusion is achieved most easily by combining two isotopes of hydrogen deuterium and tritium. Hydrogen is the lightest of all elements on Earth and has one proton and one electron. Deuterium has an extra neutron in its nuclease and tritium has two extra neutrons. When the two combine, they form the heaviest element on the periodic table, helium, and release a free neutron.
Nuclear fusion has many advantages over nuclear fission. A nuclear fusion bomb has already been invented and is referred to as a thermonuclear weapon. Nuclear fusion bombs give off and harness massive amounts of energy. Now, all we must do is figure out how to harness that energy and instead of releasing is all at one time release it slowly in a power plant over years. The biggest barrier to using nuclear fusion as of right now is getting enough heat to have the elements fuse together. To get enough heat for particles to fuse is not economical at this point but when it is our energy future will be changed forever.
There is a company, Tokamak Energy, in the United Kingdom that is close to solving the problem and creating the first Nuclear fusion reactor. The company has already achieved ‘first plasma’ and electrically charged plasma. They have designed a reactor called the tokamak reactor that heats plasma up to 100 million degrees Celsius which is seven times hotter than the center of the sun. A tokamak is device that uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. A torus is similar to a ring-shaped donut. The basic problem with the tokamak is that the positive and negatively charged ions and negative electrons in the fusion plasma are at extreme temperatures and in order to maintain the fusion process particles in the process must be kept in the central region or the plasma will rapidly cool. To fix this they shaped the lines so they don’t just run around the torus but they twist. This is one of their first main problems they have solved so far in their steps toward a fully functional fusion reactor.
Recently within the last two weeks there has been another major step achieved in our nuclear fusion future. Scientist at Colorado State University used a powerful laser to heat arrays of ordered nanowires which demonstrated micro-scale nuclear fusion. This micro-scale nuclear fusion had record setting efficiency for the generation of neutrons resulting from the process. They used an ultra-fast high powered laser they built from scratch. The laser cost upwards of $100 million and is kept in a stadium sized building. The laser blasted a target of invisible Nano wires that instantly created extremely hot dense plasma. The reaction gave off helium and flashes of energetic neutrons. This technology could open up many doors into our future not only renewable energy but advancements in fields such as neutron imaging and understanding how lasers interact with matter.
Nuclear fusion has a few main advantages over nuclear fission. For starters, nuclear fusion produces a massive amount of energy much more than fission energy. The second biggest advantage to nuclear fusion is that is has no hazardous waste. Nuclear fission full rods are a huge environmental hazard and there is no solution on how we are going to dispose of them. After a nuclear fusion reaction, the by product is helium. If we could eventually create an affordable nuclear fusion reactor it would be huge for our worlds future energy supply. Nuclear fusion energy very well could be the solution to our worlds energy problem. Nuclear fusion is a clean and renewable source of energy.
Hopefully we will see a sustainable and cost effective nuclear fusion power plant within the next few decades. Nuclear fusion could be a legitimate solution to our world energy crisis. Nuclear fusion is a great replacement for our current power plants that give off pollutants or use hazardous radioactive material. Nuclear fusion is a clean and renewable source of energy that I hope we solve in the near future.
References:
http://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Nuclear_fusion_in_the_Sun
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-uk-has-just-switch-on-its-tokamak-nuclear-fusion-reactor
http://nuclearconnect.org/know-nuclear/science/nuclear-fusion
http://www.newsweek.com/record-breaking-nuclear-fusion-has-been-achieved-mini-scale-using-laser-heated-846994