The promise of nuclear fusion is a viable source of energy that will never run out. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have declared what they call a "watershed moment" for making this technology feasible.
When two or more atomic nuclei combine to form larger elements, called fusion, it releases enormous amounts of energy. This is what powers stars such as our Sun. However, it has been difficult to get it to work on Earth in a way that doesn't consume more energy than it produces.
Researchers have created the strongest superconducting magnet yet. It is the first magnet capable of creating a magnetic field strong enough to allow fusion to occur.
Test the magnet. (Gretchen Ertl, CFS/MIF-PSFC, 2021)
Maria Zuber, a geophysicist at MIT, says that "Fusion in many ways is the ultimate source of clean energy." "The power available is truly game-changing."
The new magnet is composed of 16 plates that are stacked together and stands at 3 meters (nearly 10 ft) high. It makes use of ReBCO, a superconducting metal. It took about two weeks to build the new magnet, which was capable of reaching a record-breaking magnetic force strength of 20 tesla. This, according to the team, is sufficient to enable nuclear fusion to occur.
After the device has been proven its capability, the MIT scientists can now work with their collaborators at Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), to figure out how to integrate it into a nuclear fusion plant. The circular tokamak will be used. This allows trapped plasma to be heated to 100 million degrees Celsius, or more, and triggers the fusion reactions.
The research team has developed a compact, modular magnet that can be used to achieve similar performance in reactors 40 times smaller than those made with conventional magnets.
It is essential to scale the technology in order to make fusion power generation cost-effective and practical, so it can be integrated into electricity grid.
How the magnet would be installed inside a reactor. (Gretchen Ertl, CFS/MIF-PSFC, 2021)
Hydrogen isotopes in the water would power the reactor. Since we have an almost unlimited supply of water, these reactors can run indefinitely. They produce very little waste.
Everyone involved acknowledges that there is still much work to be done and many more obstacles to overcome. However, obtaining a magnet with these capabilities was the greatest challenge the team faced. Now that challenge is over. Progress can now be made on other aspects of the project.
We all know that we don't have time to waste. The Earth's atmosphere has been warming at an alarming rate and it is time to drastically reduce carbon emissions. A breakthrough in producing fusion power is what the planet needs. This should be paired with two other things that we should already be doing now.
CFS and MIT hope to have a test facility operational by 2025.
CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard says, "It's an important moment." "We now have an innovative platform that's both scientifically advanced, thanks to decades of research, and commercially very attractive.
It allows us to make devices smaller and faster at a lower cost.
