Posted on 07/14/2021 7:55:22 PM PDT by dynachrome
Hundreds of times every month, a British scientist sitting in a high-tech control room in an industrial park in the Thames Valley near Didcot clicks his computer mouse.
Each time he does so, a high-energy beam of subatomic particles is fired into a dark, swirling cloud of superheated hydrogen gas, known as a plasma, contained within a spherical steel tank about 6 ft in diameter.
The plasma immediately sparks and glows and at that point has just become the hottest place in the solar system, hotter even than the core of the sun — that is to say, more than 15 million degrees Centigrade.
Only a system of immensely powerful electromagnets prevents the vessel containing the plasma from being vaporised instantly.
The scientist, who works for the high-tech start-up Tokamak Energy, is part of a team of world-leading experts trying to recreate nuclear fusion, the process that makes stars burn — for the fusion of two atoms of hydrogen to make one of helium, releases vast quantities of energy.
Harnessing fusion on a commercial scale has been the energy technology sector's holy grail since the 1930s.
Now, that goal is no longer sci-fi fantasy but fast approaching science fact. And the good news is that Tokamak, a British company, is a world leader in the race to develop a commercially viable fusion device that will revolutionise the energy-generation sector.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
30 years, just a mere 30 years away.
For the unmathed...
That’s not 25X more. It’s 1millionX1millionX1millionX1millionx10 more.
>>What could possibly go wrong?
Forest fires in Alaska
It will be up and running in about 20 years or so. /s
Curious if the electromagnetic containment field fails, what is the dissipiation rate of eleventy billion degrees? Would SPF 50 save people nearby?
You run lithium or other suitable liquid through the superconducting magnets. It hearts it up and in turn is used to convert water into steam. That steam turns steam generators that create electricity
The problem with Fusion has always been how to get more electricity out of the process than you have to put into it in order to heat the plasma and get it going.
Has been this way since the 80s and sti is now. We keep getting closer to the breaka even point but we are still net negative.
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I had a hard time remembering the screen name.
I always liked his posts but I guess they were considered “spam” - pretty mild, compared to what we’re seeing these days, IMHO.
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