One step closer to fusion...

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,795
It's pretty cool they have a good model to predict the effects but this type of plasma instability is and was a known factor.

I feel like we're only 30 years away from stable, controlled, practical fusion.
And I can state, with absolute certainty, that stable and useful fusion will inevitably eventually be a reality.
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
13,726
https://scitechdaily.com/inside-the-tokamak-scientists-crack-the-code-to-stable-fusion-energy/

I feel like we're only 10 years away from stable, controlled, practical fusion.
That's interesting, I feel like we are only 10 years from being 10 years away from a stable practical fusion :)
If not, then we are just 10 years away from being 10 years away from being able to predict that we are 10 years away from a practical fusion power source :)
If not, then ...

Ok seriously, there's no way to predict this with certainty.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,363
https://irfm.cea.fr/en/Phocea/Vie_des_labos/Ast/ast.php?t=fait_marquant&id_ast=982#:~:text=On February 12, scientists from,the plasma of 1337 seconds.

"On February 12, scientists from CEA-IRFM sustained a hydrogen plasma in the WEST Tokamak for 1337 seconds, approximately 22 minutes, with an injected and extracted energy of 2.6 GJ
...
Around 1040 seconds, one of the seven klystrons that power the heating antenna suddenly stopped, and the plasma reorganized into a new regime until the 1337th second, when the LH system stopped, ending the plasma. Many data are still being analysed to better understand the plasma's behaviour.

The following day, the second day dedicated to long-duration plasmas focused on deuterium plasmas. The best plasma of the day lasted 921 seconds, again demonstrating the robustness of the plasma scenario and the different control systems. Indeed, sustaining plasmas for such long durations requires real-time control systems that can react to events affecting the plasma, as well events impacting the components facing the plasma, including unexpected overheating.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,363
Am I missing something, or was this a hydrogen plasma with no fusion reaction going on? I see no mention of fusion.
No, you're not missing anything. There is never going to be fusion in the WEST testing Tokamak and this wasn't trying for fusion.
They are perfecting the magnetic confinement systems and technology.

1739991951081.png
They lost a RF heating source for the plasma but the control system compensated and maintained confinement.
Mastering this inherently unstable plasma over long durations is a true technological challenge and an essential prerequisite for controlling a self-sustained plasma driven by fusion reactions, as will be the case in ITER, and ultimately for producing fusion energy on an industrial scale.
"sustaining plasmas for such long durations requires real-time control systems that can react to events affecting the plasma, as well events impacting the components facing the plasma, including unexpected overheating"
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,363
The machines we have don't operate anywhere near the WEST power levels but plasma instabilities can easily melt parts in vacuum chambers.
1739992460364.png
1739992483046.png
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,795
No, you're not missing anything. There is never going to be fusion in the WEST testing Tokamak and this wasn't trying for fusion.
They are perfecting the magnetic confinement systems and technology.

View attachment 342808
They lost a RF heating source for the plasma but the control system compensated and maintained confinement.


"sustaining plasmas for such long durations requires real-time control systems that can react to events affecting the plasma, as well events impacting the components facing the plasma, including unexpected overheating"
WEST is one big, expensive learning jig ... and it's worth every penny that's been spent on it, IMHO. Many good things have come, and hopefully will keep coming out of it.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,363
The FBI is investigating, I'm happy to see that actual crimes have been eliminated.

Kids have been building fusors for decades. Fusion is easy, getting out more than you put in is hard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusor
A Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor is the most common type of fusor.[1] This design came from work by Philo T. Farnsworth in 1964 and Robert L. Hirsch in 1967.[2][3] A variant type of fusor had been proposed previously by William Elmore, James L. Tuck, and Ken Watson at the Los Alamos National Laboratory[4] though they never built the machine.

Fusors have been built by various institutions. These include academic institutions such as the University of Wisconsin–Madison,[5] the Massachusetts Institute of Technology[6] and government entities, such as the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority.[7][8] Fusors have also been developed commercially, as sources for neutrons by DaimlerChrysler Aerospace[9] and as a method for generating medical isotopes.[10][11][12] Fusors have also become very popular for hobbyists and amateurs. A growing number of amateurs have performed nuclear fusion using simple fusor machines.[13][14][15][16][17][18] However, fusors are not considered a viable concept for large-scale energy production by scientists.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/British-boy-builds-fusion-reactor
British boy builds fusion reactor
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A thirteen-year-old schoolboy has become the youngest "fusioneer" - a person to build a fusion reactor.
 
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