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What is it they are building?
https://typeoneenergy.com/tva-and-type-one-energy-accelerate-fusion-commercialization-in-tennessee/
https://typeoneenergy.com/tva-and-type-one-energy-accelerate-fusion-commercialization-in-tennessee/
One step closer to fusion...
- Thread starter cmartinez
- Start date
I liked the 'press releases' high energy comment. Very comical.
When you look into the details of these reactors it turns out to be very sad. The engineering problems yet to be solved are still very difficult.
When we think of the reactor probably the first thing that comes to mind is the magnetic field confinement and how it seems to work pretty well in experiments. The only thing you don't hear about very often is what it DOES NOT confine. It confines the plasma, but it does not confine the blast of neutrons. Each neutron travels at a significant fraction of the speed of light, and has a relatively tiny energy level, relative to what we as humans are used to. With the energy of one of those traveling neutrons we might be able to cook a trillionth of a trillionth of a french fry in a microwave oven, but to an atom, it's like a BB flying through a spider web. It easily breaks up the lattice of atoms and causes some of the displaced atoms to knock into other atoms and mess them up too. The result is limited working time for the metals (or other materials) that line the reactor shell inside. The cost result is monumental in the 10's of billions and very time consuming. It could take a year to replace the inner walls with the use of special robotics. The downtime alone makes the whole technology completely absurd, not viable at all.
The only solution seems to be walls made of possibly a liquid metal which can recover from the neutron streams. From what I had read there has been some small scale success with that idea, and it seems to be the only real solution at least with the DT reaction reactors (which seem to also be the most viable as I have read now).
It's a shame that such a valuable technology is so hard to get working. I guess I have to give them credit for at least trying. I'd hate to have to work on any of this myself. I guess I have to stick to paying the electric company every month for energy that seems too overpriced. We had some significant down time recently too due to very strong storms in the area over the past few days.
https://www.iter.org/node/20687/what-will-blanket-teach-us
In the ITER machine, hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium will fuse to create a helium nucleus and a neutron, releasing a lot of energy in the process. Deuterium is readily available from seawater, but tritium is rare. ITER will procure the tritium fuel necessary for its operational lifetime from the limited global inventory, but for DEMO and the machines that follow, the successful development of tritium breeding within the blanket is essential. This is achieved by introducing lithium in the blanket, which will react with the neutrons from the fusion reaction to produce tritium. (A neutron multiplier such as beryllium is also used in the blanket to increase the number of neutrons available for such a reaction.) ITER will offer a unique opportunity to test mockups of tritium-breeding blankets (called test blanket modules) in a real fusion environment, and provide valuable information on local tritium breeding. Not only will this information boost the confidence that tritium self-sufficiency can be achieved in later-stage devices, but it will also provide a basis from which one can extrapolate to design DEMO or power plant blankets.
https://www.iter.org/machine/supporting-systems/tritium-breeding
In the deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction, high energy neutrons are released along with helium atoms. These electrically neutral particles escape the magnetic fields that confine the plasma and are absorbed by the blanket covering the surrounding walls.
If the blanket modules contain lithium, a reaction occurs: the incoming neutron is absorbed by the lithium atom, which recombines into an atom of tritium and an atom of helium. The tritium can then be removed from the blanket and recycled into the plasma as fuel.
Blankets containing lithium are referred to as breeding blankets. A future fusion plant producing large amounts of power will be required to "breed" all of its own tritium. Through its Test Blanket Module (TBM) program, ITER will be the first fusion device to test this essential concept of tritium self-sustainment. Further research will be necessary to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale tritium production and recycling.
https://www.iter.org/machine/blanket
The 440 blanket modules that completely cover the inner walls of the vacuum vessel protect the steel structure and the superconducting toroidal field magnets from the heat and high-energy neutrons produced by the fusion reactions. As the neutrons are slowed in the blanket, their kinetic energy is transformed into heat energy and collected by the water coolant. In a fusion power plant, this energy will be used for electrical power production.
Each blanket module measures 1 x 1.5 metres and weighs up to 4.6 tonnes. Over 180 design variants exist (related to the position of the modules in the vacuum vessel), but all have a detachable first wall that directly faces the plasma and removes the plasma heat load, and a main shield block that is designed for neutron shielding. The blanket modules also provide passageways for diagnostic and plasma heating systems.
The ITER blanket, which covers a surface of 600 m², is one of the most critical and technically challenging components in ITER: together with the divertor it directly faces the hot plasma. Due to the high heat deposition expected during plasma operation, ITER will be the first fusion device to operate with an actively cooled blanket. The cooling water—injected at 4 MPa and 70 °C—is designed to remove up to 736 MW of thermal power.
During later stages of ITER operation, some of the blanket modules will be replaced with specialized modules to test materials for tritium breeding concepts. A future fusion power plant producing large amounts of power will be required to breed all of its own tritium. ITER will test this essential concept of tritium self-sustainment.
In the ITER machine, hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium will fuse to create a helium nucleus and a neutron, releasing a lot of energy in the process. Deuterium is readily available from seawater, but tritium is rare. ITER will procure the tritium fuel necessary for its operational lifetime from the limited global inventory, but for DEMO and the machines that follow, the successful development of tritium breeding within the blanket is essential. This is achieved by introducing lithium in the blanket, which will react with the neutrons from the fusion reaction to produce tritium. (A neutron multiplier such as beryllium is also used in the blanket to increase the number of neutrons available for such a reaction.) ITER will offer a unique opportunity to test mockups of tritium-breeding blankets (called test blanket modules) in a real fusion environment, and provide valuable information on local tritium breeding. Not only will this information boost the confidence that tritium self-sufficiency can be achieved in later-stage devices, but it will also provide a basis from which one can extrapolate to design DEMO or power plant blankets.
https://www.iter.org/machine/supporting-systems/tritium-breeding
In the deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction, high energy neutrons are released along with helium atoms. These electrically neutral particles escape the magnetic fields that confine the plasma and are absorbed by the blanket covering the surrounding walls.
If the blanket modules contain lithium, a reaction occurs: the incoming neutron is absorbed by the lithium atom, which recombines into an atom of tritium and an atom of helium. The tritium can then be removed from the blanket and recycled into the plasma as fuel.
Blankets containing lithium are referred to as breeding blankets. A future fusion plant producing large amounts of power will be required to "breed" all of its own tritium. Through its Test Blanket Module (TBM) program, ITER will be the first fusion device to test this essential concept of tritium self-sustainment. Further research will be necessary to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale tritium production and recycling.
https://www.iter.org/machine/blanket
The 440 blanket modules that completely cover the inner walls of the vacuum vessel protect the steel structure and the superconducting toroidal field magnets from the heat and high-energy neutrons produced by the fusion reactions. As the neutrons are slowed in the blanket, their kinetic energy is transformed into heat energy and collected by the water coolant. In a fusion power plant, this energy will be used for electrical power production.
Each blanket module measures 1 x 1.5 metres and weighs up to 4.6 tonnes. Over 180 design variants exist (related to the position of the modules in the vacuum vessel), but all have a detachable first wall that directly faces the plasma and removes the plasma heat load, and a main shield block that is designed for neutron shielding. The blanket modules also provide passageways for diagnostic and plasma heating systems.
The ITER blanket, which covers a surface of 600 m², is one of the most critical and technically challenging components in ITER: together with the divertor it directly faces the hot plasma. Due to the high heat deposition expected during plasma operation, ITER will be the first fusion device to operate with an actively cooled blanket. The cooling water—injected at 4 MPa and 70 °C—is designed to remove up to 736 MW of thermal power.
During later stages of ITER operation, some of the blanket modules will be replaced with specialized modules to test materials for tritium breeding concepts. A future fusion power plant producing large amounts of power will be required to breed all of its own tritium. ITER will test this essential concept of tritium self-sustainment.
https://news.mit.edu/2026/mit-researchers-tackle-economic-realities-fusion-power-0810
MIT researchers tackle the economic realities of fusion power
MIT researchers tackle the economic realities of fusion power
The title alone strongly hints that if it isn't pure hype, it's probably presented in a very information-absent way.4 Could be wrong, but it just strike me as something that is aimed more at getting clicks than conveying something meaningful.
What? ... a youtuber craving the attention of your mouse's buttons? ... that is inconceivable, scandalous slander!
I know. Insane, isn't it?
Of course, many of the WWII-related AI-slop that's out there present quite tame, reasonable titles (but many of them are over-the-top, as well), so it's hard to really tell these days.
You're right, the neutrons are a huge problem many teams seem to be ignoring, or hoping there will be a solution. LPP Fusion has chosen to solve the problem at the get go and is working on neutron-free fusion.
Some are using it to make fuel. It's not a problem, it's a feature.
https://www.iter.org/machine/supporting-systems/tritium-breeding
