DOCSLIB.ORG

Europe's Fusion-Reactor Plans Depend On

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Europe's Fusion-Reactor Plans Depend On correspondence Europe’s fusion-reactor plans depend on JET Closing the Joint European Torus may save some money, but at a great cost to physics. Sir — In your News story “Fusion cash heating techniques, D–T fusion capability giving each country the security of having shortfall leaves JET grounded” (Nature 424, and exploration of effects of ‘fast’ particles its own individual programme. A far more 4; 2003), you cite Alexander Bradshaw’s view (which can only be confined in a large sensible, though challenging, option is for that the “sensible” option for the European device such as JET) in heating and changing directors to make the case for increased Union (EU) fusion programme is to close the stability of the plasma. Thus JET is fusion funding, a restructured and more the Joint European Torus (JET), implying exploring the ‘new’ physics of ITER, and centralized European programme, and to that it is a luxury, low-priority item. developing techniques and understanding centre national resources and programmes This could not be further from the truth. to speed ITER’s research programme. on a few pan-European facilities. JET is the most relevant device to ITER, In recent years JET has been redeveloped JET remains at the forefront of the the planned international magnetic fusion as a model of European collaboration, world fusion programme. With the many reactor, for addressing questions of how enabling even small scientific associations upgrades and new systems coming online scenarios, performance limits, heat loads to have leading roles in key fields for ITER. over the next 18 months, and the vigour and stresses extrapolate with device size. As Without a centrally funded EU facility, injected by its collaborative framework, it a scientist working on JET, I must point out the EU fusion programme would have no has one of the most diverse, dynamic and that it is also developing key techniques that coherence. We should be following the intensive ITER-relevant programmes in would otherwise have to await much more example of particle physics, pooling the world. It should be the last part of the expensive research programmes in ITER. resources at every level in the operation of EU programme to be closed down. Examples include the development of major shared facilities that most directly Richard Buttery tritium and remote-handling technologies, address the development of the field. The Old Nurses Cottage, High Street, Harwell, ion cyclotron and lower hybrid resonant Closing JET may seem the easy option, Oxfordshire OX11 0EU, UK Consumers don’t want of BSE? This was done in the absence of their bibliographic style files directly on any scientific evidence and solely on the their websites, reducing the problem of GM, so why use it? basis of what you call dogma. format management. Life-sciences journals Sir — The organic movement will be Thankfully the UK government has could easily follow their example. grateful for Nature’s interest in our well- learned some lessons from past food Leslie and Hamilton repeat a familiar being (“Diversity in food technology”, disasters. In particular, it seems willing to objection to LaTeX: the learning curve Nature 424, 473; 2003), but when you urge listen to the market and consumers in a takes away time from research work. This us to abandon “self-damaging dogmas”,I way that the overwhelmingly pro-GM problem has largely been solved in the hope you’ll forgive us for looking at your scientific establishment in the United form of an open-source graphical interface advice a little sceptically. Kingdom finds completely impossible. to LaTeX called LyX (www.lyx.org), You are advising one of the few sectors The UK government has promised providing standard functionality such as of UK agriculture that has a real and growing to protect organic farming from GM cut/paste and spell-checking. New users are market, strongly supported by consumers, contamination, in line with consumers’ relieved of the time investment necessary to introduce a radical change in our product. wishes (and incidentally with the European for using LaTeX alone, yet they still derive We see no evidence, however, that using Union regulation defining organic its well-known performance benefits. The genetically modified (GM) crops would production). As you say, there is increasing Lyx interface handles standard file formats, further the interests of organic farmers, recognition of what organic farmers and most significantly Adobe PDF, which many organic food manufacturers, organic environmentalists have been saying for journals require for electronic submission. retailers or the millions of people who eat nearly a decade: namely that coexistence It is therefore compatible with other tools organic food in the United Kingdom. of GM and organic farming may not be used by authors to view, share and submit In your Editorial you say that the Soil possible in the United Kingdom. We shall their written work. Association “will resist seemingly to their have to make a choice. Leslie and Hamilton discuss one dying breath” the idea that GM could be Peter Melchett standardization tool, the digital object as ethical as conventional plant breeding. The Soil Association, Bristol House, identifier (DOI). But although there is Ultimately the decision is up to consumers. 40–56 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6BY, UK substantial incentive for publishers to Given that people who buy non-organic adopt DOI for increased visibility and food have said they don’t want GM in accessibility, the benefits of simply it, it’s hardly surprising that organic changing long-established reference and consumers are even more determined that Open-source answer to citation styles are unclear. LaTeX/LyX may GM should be kept out of organic food. bibliography problem represent a more realistic solution. We The significant areas of uncertainty hope investigators will also consider such described in the UK government’s scientific Sir — David M. Leslie and Meredith J. open-source applications in the broader assessment of GM crops suggest that these Hamilton say in their Correspondence context of conducting their scientific work consumers know what they’re talking “Multitude of reference styles delays as suggested in your Editorial “In praise of about. You say that our determination to publication” (Nature 424, 127; 2003) that a open software” (Nature 403, 229; 2000; keep GM out of organic is “arbitrary and standard format is needed for citation and doi:10.1038/35002141). self-defeating”.Was it “arbitrary and self- bibliography styles. The well-established Michael C. Wendl, David J. Dooling defeating” when the organic sector banned LaTex family of open-source packages is Genome Sequencing Center, Washington University, the feeding of ground-up animal remains such a system. Many journals in the 4444 Forest Park Boulevard, Box 8501, St Louis, to ruminants ten years before the discovery physical and mathematical sciences provide Missouri 63108, USA NATURE | VOL 424 | 28 AUGUST 2003 | www.nature.com/nature © 2003 Nature Publishing Group 995.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Conceptual Design Report on JT-60SA ___1. JT-60SA
    Conceptual Design Report on JT-60SA ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ 1. JT-60SA Mission and Program 1.1 Introduction Realization of fusion energy requires long-term research and development. A schematic of fusion energy development is shown in Fig. 1.1-1. Fusion energy development is divided into 3 phases before commercialization. The large Tokamak phase achieved equivalent break-even plasmas in JET and JT-60 and significant DT Power productions in TFTR and JET. A programmatic objective of the ITER phase is demonstration of scientific and technical feasibility of fusion energy. A primary objective of the DEMO phase is to demonstrate power (electricity) production in a manner leading to commercialization of fusion energy. The fast track approach to fusion energy is to shorten its development period for fusion energy utilization by adding appropriate programs (BA program) in parallel with ITER. Program elements are advanced tokamak/simulation studies and fusion technology/material development. Fig. 1.1-1 Schematic of fusion energy development To specify program elements needed in parallel with ITER, we have to identify the concept of DEMO. Typical DEMO concepts of Japan and EU are shown in Fig.1.1-2. Although size spans widely, operation mode is unanimously “steady-state”. Ranges of the normalized beta are pretty close each other, βN=3.5 to 4.3 for JA DEMO and 3.4 to 4.5 for EU DEMO. Fig. 1.1-2 Cross section and parameters of JA-EU DEMO studies ave 2 The neutron wall load of DEMO exceeds that of ITER (Pn =0.57MW/m ) by a factor of 3-6.
    [Show full text]
  • A European Success Story the Joint European Torus
    EFDA JET JETJETJET LEAD ING DEVICE FOR FUSION STUDIES HOLDER OF THE WORLD RECORD OF FUSION POWER PRODUCTION EXPERIMENTS STRONGLY FOCUSSED ON THE PREPARATION FOR ITER EXPERIMENTAL DEVICE USED UNDER THE EUROPEAN FUSION DEVELOPEMENT AGREEMENT THE JOINT EUROPEAN TORUS A EUROPEAN SUCCESS STORY EFDA Fusion: the Energy of the Sun If the temperature of a gas is raised above 10,000 °C virtually all of the atoms become ionised and electrons separate from their nuclei. The result is a complete mix of electrons and ions with the sum of all charges being very close to zero as only small charge imbalance is allowed. Thus, the ionised gas remains almost neutral throughout. This constitutes a fourth state of matter called plasma, with a wide range of unique features. D Deuterium 3He Helium 3 The sun, and similar stars, are sphe- Fusion D T Tritium res of plasma composed mainly of Li Lithium hydrogen. The high temperature, 4He Helium 4 3He Energy U Uranium around 15 million °C, is necessary released for the pressure of the plasma to in Fusion T balance the inward gravitational for- ces. Under these conditions it is pos- Li Fission sible for hydrogen nuclei to fuse together and release energy. Nuclear binding energy In a terrestrial system the aim is to 4He U produce the ‘easiest’ fusion reaction Energy released using deuterium and tritium. Even in fission then the rate of fusion reactions becomes large enough only at high JG97.362/4c Atomic mass particle energy. Therefore, when the Dn required nuclear reactions result from the thermal motions of the nuclei, so-called thermonuclear fusion, it is necessary to achieve u • extremely high temperatures, of at least 100 million °C.
    [Show full text]
  • Energy Analysis for the Connection of the Nuclear Reactor DEMO to the European Electrical Grid
    energies Article Energy Analysis for the Connection of the Nuclear Reactor DEMO to the European Electrical Grid Sergio Ciattaglia 1, Maria Carmen Falvo 2,* , Alessandro Lampasi 3 and Matteo Proietti Cosimi 2 1 EUROfusion Consortium, 85748 Garching, Germany; [email protected] 2 DIAEE—Department of Astronautics, Energy and Electrical Engineering, University of Rome Sapienza, 00184 Rome, Italy; [email protected] 3 ENEA Frascati, 00044 Frascati, Rome, Italy; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 31 March 2020; Accepted: 22 April 2020; Published: 1 May 2020 Abstract: Towards the middle of the current century, the DEMOnstration power plant, DEMO, will start operating as the first nuclear fusion reactor capable of supplying its own loads and of providing electrical power to the European electrical grid. The presence of such a unique and peculiar facility in the European transmission system involves many issues that have to be faced in the project phase. This work represents the first study linking the operation of the nuclear fusion power plant DEMO to the actual requirements for its correct functioning as a facility connected to the power systems. In order to build this link, the present work reports the analysis of the requirements that this unconventional power-generating facility should fulfill for the proper connection and operation in the European electrical grid. Through this analysis, the study reaches its main objectives, which are the definition of the limitations of the current design choices in terms of power-generating capability and the preliminary evaluation of advantages and disadvantages that the possible configurations for the connection of the facility to the European electrical grid can have.
    [Show full text]
  • NIAC 2011 Phase I Tarditti Aneutronic Fusion Spacecraft Architecture Final Report
    NASA-NIAC 2001 PHASE I RESEARCH GRANT on “Aneutronic Fusion Spacecraft Architecture” Final Research Activity Report (SEPTEMBER 2012) P.I.: Alfonso G. Tarditi1 Collaborators: John H. Scott2, George H. Miley3 1Dept. of Physics, University of Houston – Clear Lake, Houston, TX 2NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 3University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Executive Summary - Motivation This study was developed because the recognized need of defining of a new spacecraft architecture suitable for aneutronic fusion and featuring game-changing space travel capabilities. The core of this architecture is the definition of a new kind of fusion-based space propulsion system. This research is not about exploring a new fusion energy concept, it actually assumes the availability of an aneutronic fusion energy reactor. The focus is on providing the best (most efficient) utilization of fusion energy for propulsion purposes. The rationale is that without a proper architecture design even the utilization of a fusion reactor as a prime energy source for spacecraft propulsion is not going to provide the required performances for achieving a substantial change of current space travel capabilities. - Highlights of Research Results This NIAC Phase I study provided led to several findings that provide the foundation for further research leading to a higher TRL: first a quantitative analysis of the intrinsic limitations of a propulsion system that utilizes aneutronic fusion products directly as the exhaust jet for achieving propulsion was carried on. Then, as a natural continuation, a new beam conditioning process for the fusion products was devised to produce an exhaust jet with the required characteristics (both thrust and specific impulse) for the optimal propulsion performances (in essence, an energy-to-thrust direct conversion).
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Looking Back at Half a Century of Fusion Research Association Euratom-CEA, Centre De
    Looking Back at Half a Century of Fusion Research P. STOTT Association Euratom-CEA, Centre de Cadarache, 13108 Saint Paul lez Durance, France. This article gives a short overview of the origins of nuclear fusion and of its development as a potential source of terrestrial energy. 1 Introduction A hundred years ago, at the dawn of the twentieth century, physicists did not understand the source of the Sun‘s energy. Although classical physics had made major advances during the nineteenth century and many people thought that there was little of the physical sciences left to be discovered, they could not explain how the Sun could continue to radiate energy, apparently indefinitely. The law of energy conservation required that there must be an internal energy source equal to that radiated from the Sun‘s surface but the only substantial sources of energy known at that time were wood or coal. The mass of the Sun and the rate at which it radiated energy were known and it was easy to show that if the Sun had started off as a solid lump of coal it would have burnt out in a few thousand years. It was clear that this was much too shortœœthe Sun had to be older than the Earth and, although there was much controversy about the age of the Earth, it was clear that it had to be older than a few thousand years. The realization that the source of energy in the Sun and stars is due to nuclear fusion followed three main steps in the development of science.
    [Show full text]
  • ITER Project for Fusion Energy
    ITER: Unprecedented Global Collaboration for Fusion Energy Fusion reactions power the sun and the stars, and fusion has the potential to produce clean, safe, abundant energy on Earth. By fusing light hydrogen atoms such as deuterium and tritium, fusion reactions can produce energy gains about a million times greater than chemical reactions with fossil fuels. Fusion is not vulnerable to runaway reactions and does not produce long-term high-level radioactive waste. 35 The ITER project seeks to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility Nations of fusion energy by building the world’s largest and most advanced tokamak collaborating to magnetic confinement fusion experiment. The ITER tokamak will be the first fusion build ITER device to demonstrate a sustained burning plasma, an essential step for fusion energy development. >75% The United States signed the ITER Agreement in 2006, along with China, the European Portion of US funding Union, India, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Federation. The ITER members— invested domestically for representing 35 countries, more than 80% of annual global GDP, and half the world’s design and fabrication of components population—are now actively fabricating and shipping components to the ITER site in France for assembly of the first “star on Earth.” 9% Amount of ITER construction costs funded by the The ITER Tokamak United States Fusion thermal power has already been demonstrated in tokamaks; however, a sustained burning plasma has yet to be created. The ITER tokamak is designed to achieve an 100% industrial-scale burning plasma producing Access to the research 500 megawatts of fusion thermal power.
    [Show full text]
  • Fusion: the Way Ahead
    Fusion: the way ahead Feature: Physics World March 2006 pages 20 - 26 The recent decision to build the world's largest fusion experiment - ITER - in France has thrown down the gauntlet to fusion researchers worldwide. Richard Pitts, Richard Buttery and Simon Pinches describe how the Joint European Torus in the UK is playing a key role in ensuring ITER will demonstrate the reality of fusion power At a Glance: Fusion power • Fusion is the process whereby two light nuclei bind to form a heavier nucleus with the release of energy • Harnessing fusion on Earth via deuterium and tritium reactions would lead to an environmentally friendly and almost limitless energy source • One promising route to fusion power is to magnetically confine a hot, dense plasma inside a doughnut-shaped device called a tokamak • The JET tokamak provides a vital testing ground for understanding the physics and technologies necessary for an eventual fusion reactor • ITER is due to power up in 2016 and will be the next step towards a demonstration fusion power plant, which could be operational by 2035 By 2025 the Earth's population is predicted to reach eight billion. By the turn of the next century it could be as many as 12 billion. Even if the industrialized nations find a way to reduce their energy consumption, this unprecedented increase in population - coupled with rising prosperity in the developing world - will place huge demands on global energy supplies. As our primary sources of energy - fossil fuels - begin to run out, and burning them causes increasing environmental concerns, the human race faces the challenge of finding new energy sources.
    [Show full text]
  • DISTRIBUTION of THIS DOCUMENT IS UNLIMITED Temperatures in the Range 5-10 Kev Are Still Needed, but the Lawson Number Can Be Reduced to the Low 10 Cm Sec Range
    TFTR and Other Large Tokamaks Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey 08544 H.P. Furth CONF-8604223—1 DE86 012761 Introduction The near-term goal of fusion research is to produce deuterium-tritium plasmas with temperatures above 10 keV and Lawson numbers nTE above 10 cm sec. As indicated in Fig. 1, experiments entering this parameter range will be able to satisfy Lawson's break-even criterion, where the fusion power output equals the required plasma-heating-power input (Q = 1 ). The ultimate reactor goal is to reach equilibrium-burn conditions, where the energetic alpha particles generated by the D-T reaction are sufficient to maintain the plasma temperature against all heat losses (Q = °°). At the outset of the international controlled-fusion research effort in the 19 50's, Lawson's goal seemed intimidatingly remote from experimental capabilities. During the following ten years, substantial scientific progress was made, but the rate of advance in the Lawson diagram was not such as to inspire confidence that the fusion program would reach fruition within the lifetime of its pioneers. The notable success of the Kurchatov Institute's T-3 tokamak during 1968-69 brightened the outlook considerably. The tokamak configuration was recognized as a cost-effective experimental tool and has permitted steady progress during subsequent decades. World-wide recognition of the favorable experimental opportunity for entry into the reactor plasma regime led to the initiation, in the mid-1970's, of four large new tokamak projects (Table I). Plans for the Joint European Torus (JET) were defined in 1971-73: th_ very large plasma size and high current of the JET plasma offered a potential for exceeding the Lawson break- even criterion and possibly evan reaching ignition in D-T plasmas.
    [Show full text]
  • Corrosion Issues in Fusion Reactors
    Corrosion Issues in Fusion Reactors Digby D. Macdonald1 and George R. Engelhardt2 1Department of Nuclear Engineering University of California at Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720 2OLI Systems, Inc. 240 Cedar Knolls Rd Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927 WCO Forum Corrosion 2020 Houston, TX, USA Background • Nuclear fusion is the process of fusing the light elements (primarily 1 2 3 the isotopes of hydrogen, H1, D1, T1. • Fusion results in a loss of mass, which is converted into energy, E = Δm.c2. • Process that occurs in the sun and stars in nuclear synthesis. Minimum temperature for D + T is 10 keV = 300,000,000 oC equivalent. • First demonstrated on earth in 1950s through thermonuclear weapons. • Almost a limitless source of clean energy if it can be made to work. • First controlled fusion demonstrated at JET in Oxford, UK, Q =0.75. • First technology demonstration, ITER (‘the way”), being constructed at Cadarache, France. Q > 10. Thermonuclear Reactions Reaction Reaction Equation Initial Mass (u) Mass Change (u) % Mass Change 2 2 3 1 -3 D-D D1 + D1 → He2 + n0 4.027106424 -2.44152x10 0.06062 2 2 3 1 -3 D-D D1 + D1 → H1 + p1 4.027106424 -3.780754x10 0.09388 2 3 4 1 D-T D1 + T1 → He2 + n0 5.029602412 -0.019427508 0.3863 e--p+ e- + p+ → 2hν 1.8219x10-31 -1.8219x10-31 100 Must overcome Coulombic repulsion of nuclei in the plasma Preferred Reaction • The easiest reaction to achieve 2 3 4 1 is: D1 + T1 → He2 + n0 because it has the lowest ignition temperature (10 keV).
    [Show full text]
  • Small-Scale Fusion Tackles Energy, Space Applications
    NEWS FEATURE NEWS FEATURE Small-scalefusiontacklesenergy,spaceapplications Efforts are underway to exploit a strategy that could generate fusion with relative ease. M. Mitchell Waldrop, Science Writer On July 14, 2015, nine years and five billion kilometers Cohen explains, referring to the ionized plasma inside after liftoff, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft passed the tube that’s emitting the flashes. So there are no the dwarf planet Pluto and its outsized moon Charon actual fusion reactions taking place; that’s not in his at almost 14 kilometers per second—roughly 20 times research plan until the mid-2020s, when he hopes to faster than a rifle bullet. be working with a more advanced prototype at least The images and data that New Horizons pains- three times larger than this one. takingly radioed back to Earth in the weeks that If that hope pans out and his future machine does followed revealed a pair of worlds that were far more indeed produce more greenhouse gas–free fusion en- varied and geologically active than anyone had ergy than it consumes, Cohen and his team will have thought possible. The revelations were breathtak- beaten the standard timetable for fusion by about a ing—and yet tinged with melancholy, because New decade—using a reactor that’s just a tiny fraction of Horizons was almost certain to be both the first and the size and cost of the huge, donut-shaped “tokamak” the last spacecraft to visit this fascinating world in devices that have long devoured most of the research our lifetimes. funding in this field.
    [Show full text]
  • June 2018 Fusion in Europe
    FUSION IN EUROPE NEWS & VIEWS ON THE PROGRESS OF FUSION RESEARCH “Let us face it: TO DTT OR NOT TO DTT there is no VACUUM – HOW NOTHING REALLY planet B!” MATTERS NOW IS THE TIME TO BE AT JET 2 2018 Fusion Writers … wanted! … and Artists This could be you Fusion in Europe is call- ing for aspiring writers and gifted artists! Introduce yourself to an international audience! Catch one of our topics and turn it into your own! • The future powered by fusion energy • Fusion science and industrial reality • Fusion - a melting pot of different sciences • Fusion drives innovation Find the entire list here: tinyurl.com/ybd4omz7 Your application should include a short CV and a motivational letter. Please apply here: tinyurl.com/ybd4omz7 EUROfusion | Communications Team | Anne Purschwitz (”Fusion in Europe“ Editor) Boltzmannstr. 2 | 85748Application Garching | +49 89 deadline: 3299 4128 | [email protected] 25 June 2018 | Editorial | EUROfusion | “It is the best time to be at JET right now” says a passionate Eva Belo nohy. The member of JET’s Exploitation Unit has recently organised a very suc- cessful workshop. It was aimed to ‘refresh’ the knowledge of European fu- sion researchers regarding the Joint European Torus (JET) but that was a classic understatement. The meeting was a fully-fledged overview on JET’s capabilities which have tremendously changed in the past. The tokamak has gone through major upgrades since it saw its first deuterium tritium campaign in 1997. Those include not only an ITER-like wall but also an Fusion Writers… wanted! … increase of the heating power by 50 percent.
    [Show full text]
  • The ITER Project the Road to Fusion
    The ITER project The road to fusion Pioneering fusion research The beginning of fusion technology is hard to define, but a famous experiment from 1934 opened the way to present-day fusion research, including ITER. In a laboratory in Europe, researchers achieved fusion by using deuterium, a heavy version of hydrogen, discovering that this reaction released energy. By the 1950’s, researchers all over the world were working on how to achieve fusion on earth in a way that could produce energy at a large scale. © EUROfusion European fusion strategy Advancing fusion for the future Fusion was already listed as a research objective in the Euratom The birth of ITER is also hard to identify, but the summit between Treaty from 1957, and fusion research has since been coordinated US President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union’s General to ensure that breakthroughs and results push forward the Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva 1985 was an important technology. European laboratories collaborate on fusion research milestone. At that meeting, Gorbachev proposed to set up an through a pan-European consortium called EUROfusion, with 30 international cooperation to develop fusion energy for members in 28 countries. It is funded partly by the EU through peaceful purposes, which would later develop into ITER. the Euratom research and training programme, and partly by its members. ITER’s goal is to prove that a fusion plasma can produce 10 times the thermal power injected into the plasma. European fusion research follows a long-term strategy set out in the European research roadmap. Specifically, it outlines the ITER will be a purely experimental facility that will not produce general path for achieving fusion energy on the grid in the second electricity; however, the fusion device that will follow it, DEMO, half of the century.
    [Show full text]