- Reaction score
- 1,750
A UK-based nuclear fusion collaboration just produced a record amount of energy, a refreshing dose of good news in humankind’s quest for cleaner energy sources. The Joint European Torus facility, or JET, produced just over 69 megajoules of heat.
A brief distillation of nuclear fusion: It is a reaction by which atomic nuclei fuse, turning into a new element while at the same time producing a huge amount of energy. It is a cleaner process than nuclear fission, its evil twin, which generates energy (and a sizable amount of waste) by splitting atoms. Nuclear fusion is the same reaction that powers stars like our Sun, and for decades scientists have tried to make the reaction energy efficient on Earth.
If such a goal were realized, the fusion reactions would generate more energy than they take to catalyze, thereby producing—at least in theory—unlimited clean energy. This does not take into account the commercial viability of fusion, and to-date most of the progress towards fusion energy as a power source has been done at great expense by places like the DOE and, in JET’s case, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
Commercially viable nuclear fusion is always 20 years, or 30 years, or half a century away, or so aspirational minds tell us. It sometimes seems like a fata morgana, hovering on the horizon, just out of reach. But hopefully that’s where the mirage analogy ends; after all, accomplishments like that recently made by JET are small-but-significant steps towards the hope of a clean energy future.
gizmodo.com
A brief distillation of nuclear fusion: It is a reaction by which atomic nuclei fuse, turning into a new element while at the same time producing a huge amount of energy. It is a cleaner process than nuclear fission, its evil twin, which generates energy (and a sizable amount of waste) by splitting atoms. Nuclear fusion is the same reaction that powers stars like our Sun, and for decades scientists have tried to make the reaction energy efficient on Earth.
If such a goal were realized, the fusion reactions would generate more energy than they take to catalyze, thereby producing—at least in theory—unlimited clean energy. This does not take into account the commercial viability of fusion, and to-date most of the progress towards fusion energy as a power source has been done at great expense by places like the DOE and, in JET’s case, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
Commercially viable nuclear fusion is always 20 years, or 30 years, or half a century away, or so aspirational minds tell us. It sometimes seems like a fata morgana, hovering on the horizon, just out of reach. But hopefully that’s where the mirage analogy ends; after all, accomplishments like that recently made by JET are small-but-significant steps towards the hope of a clean energy future.
Nuclear Fusion Machine Smashes Energy Record, Clean Energy Now 'Closer Than Ever'
JET's final nuclear fusion experiment produced a record-breaking 69 megajoules of heat. Nice.
gizmodo.com
