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Fusion reactor to create mini sun on earth

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Scientists at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore California hope to have the world’s first sustainable fusion reactor powered up and running by 2012. Guessing by the ancient Mayan calendar that say’s the world will end by that year, scientists speculate the sun will no longer function and need a ‘replacement’ to missile off to the center of the solar system. Seriously though, engineers designed the reactor to use 192 lasers aimed at small BB sized glass targets that house the hydrogen isotopes tritium and deuterium. The lasers simultaneously, in a fraction of a second, pulsate ultraviolet laser energy (equivalent to two million joules) to their respective targets. The resulting energy released through this process, known as inertial confinement fusion, was around 1.3 million mega joules which created a peak core temperature of six million degrees Farenheight, about the same amount of energy and heat found in a small star or large planet. This is the first laser in which the energy released is greater than the energy used to make the fusion reaction. (I am dubious.) The NIF hope to replace existing nuclear power plants with a more safe and refined fusion plant that could theoretically handle a quarter of the United States energy consumption by 2050. Let’s just hope these fusion plants don’t go nova on us. For a more detailed abstract view and process explanationg visit NIF’s website at: https://lasers.llnl.gov/
 
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  • The advantage that fusion has over fission is that there is no runaway effect. In the general case, if something goes wrong then the reaction fails. Also, in most modes that I've heard of, the by-products are MUCH safer, usually not radioactive. Sure the facility is likely to be unusable after an incident, but there is no fallout and it doesn't dose half the continent with radioactive dust.

  • in reply to Former Member

    the only worry about fusion is that it could rapidly converge into higher elements and become unstable to the point where it impodes or explode.

  • in reply to Former Member

    There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about this process, perhaps because of the tone of the original posting. The ICF process is about as safe as it gets - it just can't implode and it is intended to explode. The amount of radiactivity in each tiny glass ball is very small  - the system is fundamentally safe - as soon  as anyhting goes wrong it will just stop working. The problems Yuri.. and DAB mention are discussed in https://lasers.llnl.gov/programs/ife/how_ife_works.php

     

    I'm not saying that this system is the complete answer but it deserves serious discussion  - the maths is a LOT more credible than that supporting windmills and wave machines.

  • in reply to michaelkellett

    I did not mean to imply that I was against using the Fusion process, I am not.  I have watched the progress from the very early stages and the ability to use lasers to induce a fusion reaction may indeed be near break even or better.  If all goes as envisioned, an abundant source of world energy could be at hand.

    That said, as a Systems Engineer, I know that there are always unexpected consequences of opening new technology.  We have come a long way with using Fusion, but I was just reminding everyone that we still have much to learn.  The Sun has many unique properties that supports sustained Fusion reactions.  I am not sure if we can account for all of them in a closed environment.

    I really hope it does work, but I have waited forty years to see them demonstrate a safe way to use the technology.  So far, I have been disappointed at the progress.

     

    Thanks

    DAB

  • in reply to michaelkellett
    Yes, I do understand how Fusion works; it's just that all attempts have yielded failed or little results as the fuel source burned out in milliseconds. So to get complete results a steady fuel source would be needed until it stabilized. That is where complications can occur as the rapidly changing core can run amuck with the fuel source and completely de-stabilize the whole thing and implode or explode. What really is needed to prevent that is a Scifi approach with force fields to contain the whole thing.
  • in reply to Former Member

    Hello Dylan, I'm sorry but you  have missed the point of ICF altogether - there is no attempt to hold a fusion plasma together for even mS. Each tiny bead is fired by a new laser burst - stability is neither attemped or required. The inertial containment is the mass of the material in the bead (way less than 1gm).  Every bead explodes, it just can't implode. The idea is quite a lot different from the attempts ot constrain a plasma by huge magentic fields.

    The downside (as I see it with limited knowledge) is that it is a discontinuous process and that the energy comes out in bursts of very high energy neutrons and must be collected by a molten lithium surround. But some of the neutrons will get out through the holes for the beads and lasers to enter etc etc. so the engineering to get the whole thing to work is far from trivial.

  • in reply to michaelkellett

    Why do people talk of fusion reactors as being miniature suns? Fusion reactors burn tritium and deuterium. The sun fuses ordinary hydrogen. Totally different fuel, totally different confinement, totally different reaction rates. In fact the sun's specific power, even at the very core, is an order of magnitude lower than that of fermenting beer 7206.contentimage_4751.png

  • in reply to Former Member

    Hi Derek,

     

    I concur, too many people see mushroom clouds at the first mention of using nuclear energy in any form.  The fact that it can be used to destroy does not mean that we can not harness the energy from these normally occuring reactions for be benefit for all.

    Without nuclear fission and fusion, there would be NO life in the universe.

    Think about the power of fusion the next time you see one of the anti-nuke proponents at the beach.  An hour in sunlight produces more radiation exposure than most people get from any nuclear power plant.

     

    All we are and all that we shall ever be is the result of the basic nuclear reactions occuring since time began!

     

    Thanks

    DAB

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  • in reply to Former Member

    Hi Derek,

     

    I concur, too many people see mushroom clouds at the first mention of using nuclear energy in any form.  The fact that it can be used to destroy does not mean that we can not harness the energy from these normally occuring reactions for be benefit for all.

    Without nuclear fission and fusion, there would be NO life in the universe.

    Think about the power of fusion the next time you see one of the anti-nuke proponents at the beach.  An hour in sunlight produces more radiation exposure than most people get from any nuclear power plant.

     

    All we are and all that we shall ever be is the result of the basic nuclear reactions occuring since time began!

     

    Thanks

    DAB

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