Nuclear Fusion Unleashed
Could nuclear fusion revolutionize our energy landscape in the near future?
This clean and promising process can take place in a state of matter called plasma, where two light atomic nuclei can merge to form a heavier one, resulting in an immense release of energy: four times more energy per kilogram of fuel than nuclear fission!
The advantages are many. Fusion process exploits easily accessible fuel such as hydrogen and its isotopes deuterium and tritium: a small amount of hydrogen can generate an enormous amount of energy. Fusion reaction is intrinsically safe: there is no risk of a runaway reaction or meltdown. Nuclear fusion emits minimal greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and produces very limited amounts of long-lived radioactive waste.
However, to enjoy these benefits, some technological challenges have still to be overcome, the first being the need of improving confinement properties and stability of the plasma to maintain the reaction and produce energy in a sustained manner. Indeed, while the peculiar conditions on the sun naturally induce fusion, very high temperatures (of over 100 million degrees Celsius) are needed on Earth to make deuterium and tritium fuse and, furthermore, it is necessary the fusion reaction lasts enough to produce more energy than what was required to start the reaction. Improvements in materials research, such as ceramic, metals and coatings, and industrial processes such as welding, will be paramount.
Only recently researchers have successfully achieved a fusion experiment for the first time. However, the future development of fusion energy will depend on the industry capability to develop, validate and qualify nuclear fusion materials and technologies.
You can learn more about Nuclear Fusion with this video.
After 10 years devoted to component design and manufacturing and site preparation, in 2020 the assembly of ITER, the world’s largest international fusion facility, started in France, with the aim to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy production. It is foreseen that ITER will start conducting its first experiments in the second half of this decade and full-power experiments in 2036. The successful proof of such technology and concepts by ITER will enable the construction and operation of electricity-producing demonstration fusion power plants, called DEMOs, by 2050.
