Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Aug 12, 2020 15:32:56 GMT 2
(.#586).- In France, physicists will recreate the energy produced by the stars.
In the south of France, we will recreate the energy produced by the stars.
By: Brice Louvet, science editor
July 30, 2020
Fifteen years after receiving the official green light, engineers began assembling the highly anticipated ITER reactor on Tuesday. The fruit of an international collaboration, this giant machine, built near Aix-en-Provence, promises to master nuclear fusion. In other words, the energy produced by the stars.
We currently depend on fossil fuels and nuclear fission reactors to produce enough energy. The former are pollutants, and the latter are the source of much radioactive waste. This is why, for several years now, wind, solar and hydroelectric parks have been developed.
Clean and unlimited energy
In each star, very violent and very powerful reactions are constantly occurring. Billions of billions of hydrogen atoms smash against each other, breaking atomic bonds. These atoms then merge to form helium. From then on, the stars start to shine, and to produce heat.
The idea would be to be able to develop the same nuclear fusion processes here on Earth, but on a smaller scale. In doing so, we could then produce an almost unlimited amount of non-polluting energy. On paper, the idea is dreamy. The problem is, harnessing the energy of the stars is easier said than done.
To do this, you have to heat gaseous hydrogen to more than 100 million degrees until a plasma cloud is formed. This cloud must then be controlled with strong magnets long enough for the atoms to coalesce and ultimately release energy.
The Sun, an almost inexhaustible source of energy. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Wikimedia
"The greatest science project in the history of mankind"
To meet this challenge, 35 countries are currently cooperating in a project called ITER. The idea: to build a giant nuclear fusion reactor. And it will see the light of day in France. In Saint-Paul-lès-Durance (Bouches-du-Rhône), more exactly.
In recent years, the Vinci company has been busy building the structure of the reactor. This operation is now complete. Now it is a matter of assembling the reactor itself. This assembly project officially began on Tuesday, July 28,2020.
"With fusion, nuclear can be a promise for the future", by offering us "non-polluting, carbon-free, safe and virtually waste-free energy," said President Emmanuel Macron in a pre-recorded video broadcast during the ceremony organized on the site.
Representatives of seven of ITER's partners also spoke at the ceremony, all from a distance. The South Korean head of state, Moon Jae-In, hailed "the greatest scientific project in the history of mankind" and this search for "new scientific and technological frontiers", with this "shared dream of create clean and secure energy by 2050 ”.
The construction site of the most powerful nuclear fusion reactor in the world, in the south of France. Credit: Vinci
The biggest puzzle in the world
Over the past few weeks, hundreds of thousands of reactor components from around the world have been delivered to the site. Some, extremely powerful superconducting magnets, are as tall as a four-story building and weigh 360 tons each. They will now be painstakingly put together to complete what ITER describes as "the world's greatest puzzle".
“All aspects of project management, systems engineering, risk management and logistics of machine assembly must operate with the precision of a Swiss watch,” said Managing Director of 'ITER Bernard Bigot. We have a complex scenario to follow over the next few years ”.
Some 2,300 people will work on site to assemble the enormous machine. This project should last until the end of 2024. The first experiments should start in December 2025.
ITER will then reach full power by 2035, producing around 500 megawatts of thermal energy, enough to power 200,000 homes.
As an experimental project, this reactor is not designed to generate electricity. On the other hand, if the technology is successful, then future fusion reactors could be able to power more than two million homes each at an operational cost comparable to that of conventional nuclear reactors.
F I N .
In the south of France, we will recreate the energy produced by the stars.
By: Brice Louvet, science editor
July 30, 2020
Fifteen years after receiving the official green light, engineers began assembling the highly anticipated ITER reactor on Tuesday. The fruit of an international collaboration, this giant machine, built near Aix-en-Provence, promises to master nuclear fusion. In other words, the energy produced by the stars.
We currently depend on fossil fuels and nuclear fission reactors to produce enough energy. The former are pollutants, and the latter are the source of much radioactive waste. This is why, for several years now, wind, solar and hydroelectric parks have been developed.
Clean and unlimited energy
In each star, very violent and very powerful reactions are constantly occurring. Billions of billions of hydrogen atoms smash against each other, breaking atomic bonds. These atoms then merge to form helium. From then on, the stars start to shine, and to produce heat.
The idea would be to be able to develop the same nuclear fusion processes here on Earth, but on a smaller scale. In doing so, we could then produce an almost unlimited amount of non-polluting energy. On paper, the idea is dreamy. The problem is, harnessing the energy of the stars is easier said than done.
To do this, you have to heat gaseous hydrogen to more than 100 million degrees until a plasma cloud is formed. This cloud must then be controlled with strong magnets long enough for the atoms to coalesce and ultimately release energy.
The Sun, an almost inexhaustible source of energy. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Wikimedia
"The greatest science project in the history of mankind"
To meet this challenge, 35 countries are currently cooperating in a project called ITER. The idea: to build a giant nuclear fusion reactor. And it will see the light of day in France. In Saint-Paul-lès-Durance (Bouches-du-Rhône), more exactly.
In recent years, the Vinci company has been busy building the structure of the reactor. This operation is now complete. Now it is a matter of assembling the reactor itself. This assembly project officially began on Tuesday, July 28,2020.
"With fusion, nuclear can be a promise for the future", by offering us "non-polluting, carbon-free, safe and virtually waste-free energy," said President Emmanuel Macron in a pre-recorded video broadcast during the ceremony organized on the site.
Representatives of seven of ITER's partners also spoke at the ceremony, all from a distance. The South Korean head of state, Moon Jae-In, hailed "the greatest scientific project in the history of mankind" and this search for "new scientific and technological frontiers", with this "shared dream of create clean and secure energy by 2050 ”.
The construction site of the most powerful nuclear fusion reactor in the world, in the south of France. Credit: Vinci
The biggest puzzle in the world
Over the past few weeks, hundreds of thousands of reactor components from around the world have been delivered to the site. Some, extremely powerful superconducting magnets, are as tall as a four-story building and weigh 360 tons each. They will now be painstakingly put together to complete what ITER describes as "the world's greatest puzzle".
“All aspects of project management, systems engineering, risk management and logistics of machine assembly must operate with the precision of a Swiss watch,” said Managing Director of 'ITER Bernard Bigot. We have a complex scenario to follow over the next few years ”.
Some 2,300 people will work on site to assemble the enormous machine. This project should last until the end of 2024. The first experiments should start in December 2025.
ITER will then reach full power by 2035, producing around 500 megawatts of thermal energy, enough to power 200,000 homes.
As an experimental project, this reactor is not designed to generate electricity. On the other hand, if the technology is successful, then future fusion reactors could be able to power more than two million homes each at an operational cost comparable to that of conventional nuclear reactors.
F I N .
