Transcript Star Power

Star Power
A Nuclear Fusion Story
Nuclear Fusion
The smashing
together of two nuclei
to produce
tremendous energy
The reaction
occurring in the Sun
Very little radioactive
remnants compared
to fission.
First Uses
The first application of
fusion technology was
in thermonuclear
weapons.
The next plan was to
apply the technology
to power creation
I will focus on the
Toroidal methods
Sober Lessons
Immediately after World War II, work began on
the design of the first fusion reactor
Taking an early lead, the British built ZETA, the
Zero Energy Toroidal Assembly
They were successful, however the system
design used more energy than it outputted
Note: A Toroidal shape is like the inside of a tire
Soviet Extraordinaire
In the late 1950’s
through the ‘60’s, the
Soviets devised and
built a TOKAMAK
style reactor.
By the ’70’s, 17
tokamaks had been
built and there are
currently over 100 in
operation
Tokamak? Stellarators?
The purpose behind
Tokamaks and
Stellarators is to create a
spiraling magnetic
(helical) field to stabilize
plasma
Tokamaks achieve this by
inductively driving a
current into the plasma
producing a helical field
It is advantageous
because it can use that
current to heat and
stabilize the plasma
The Stellarator was
originally conceived in
Princeton University
It produces a helical field
by an external current
carrying wire
It is advantageous
because it can be
operated at a steady
state.
So far, the best result are
produced by the Tokamak
method
That’s one bad Tokamak
The TFTR, Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor, in the Princeton Plasma
Physics Laboratory , operational in 1976,has set many world records
Some Records set
highest plasma temperature achieved at 510 million degrees
highest controlled power output at 10.7 million watts
the list goes on…
JET – Joint European Torus
JET begins operation in the United Kingdom in 1978, it is the largest
operational Tokamak
As the largest Tokamak, it is the technology demonstrator for the
ITER, the future
It has also set many world records
22 megawatts from a single pulse
16 megawatts of power output (surpassing TFTR)
The Future
ITER – A joint collaboration between
Europe, Japan, Russia, and Canada
It is to be a Tokamak style reactor three
times as large as JET.
It will be the result of over 50 years of
research and design
Its mission is to show the feasibility of
Fusion power creation as a future power
source.
Support ITER CANADA
Currently the United States is
not funding the ITER project
because of the possibility of
it being based in Japan
If it were to be based in
Canada, the US would
reconsider funding the
project
Web Site:
http://www.itercanada.com/
Also, I could work there!!!