I can’t help but think that Ed Miliband was not carefully informed when he said the government’s funding pledge meant Britain was “within walking distance” of “safe, clean, unlimited energy” from nuclear fusion (ministers pledged a record £410m to support Nuclear energy in the United Kingdom). Fusion Energy, January 16).
Before we can start talking about nuclear fusion via magnetic confinement as a commercially viable energy source, the scientific community must confront five major challenges, each of which presents a potential obstacle. We have to prove:
1) That we can run a burning plasma for hours (if not in a steady state) with Q=40 (Q is the ratio between the energy coming from the fusion reactions and the energy used to heat the plasma) without interruption. If all goes well, at some point in the future,… ITER Integration Project Your article mentioned will run a burning plasma with Q=10 for about 10 minutes.
2) That we can deal with and exhaust the heat escaping from such a plasma that collides with the first wall of the confinement device.
3) That we can reproduce more in the blanket of a power plant Tritium What we burn in plasma. (Tritium is not readily available in nature and must be produced.)
4) The materials used in building such a factory can withstand climatic conditions Neutron flu Coming from burning plasma without losing its structural properties and without becoming excessively radioactive.
5) The fusion reactor can be reliably operated and maintained by remote manipulation, reducing downtime required for maintenance.
These are enormous scientific and technological challenges, and their solution (despite the progress made) is not in the near future. The reward for finding a solution will be enormous, so the search must continue with humility and perseverance, but there is no room for over-optimism or triumphant statements, which will only undermine the credibility of the scientists and engineers working to solve the problem.
Luca Garzotti
(Abingdon, Oxfordshire).