Nuclear fusion research

[Nereus]

A 'big moment' in nuclear fusion research is a step towards 'safe and sustainable low-carbon energy'

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-10/ ... /100818972

It was an experiment that generated enough energy to power 60 kettles.

But scientists have hailed it as a "big moment" in the development of nuclear fusion technology, and a significant step closer to providing an almost limitless source of clean energy.

Researchers at the Joint European Torus (JET) experiment in the United Kingdom managed to produce a record amount of heat energy over a five-second period, the UK Atomic Energy Authority said.

The 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy produced were more than double the previous record of 21.7mj achieved there in 1997.

The agency said the result was "the clearest demonstration worldwide of the potential for fusion energy to deliver safe and sustainable low-carbon energy".

"If we can maintain fusion for five seconds, we can do it for five minutes and then five hours as we scale up our operations in future machines," said Tony Donne, program manager for EUROfusion.

"This is a big moment for every one of us and the entire fusion community."

The results were a "huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all", said Ian Chapman, chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

The JET facility is home to the world's largest and most powerful operational tokamak — a donut-shaped device that is considered one promising method for performing controlled fusion.

Scientists who were not involved in the project believed it was a significant result, but still a very long way from achieving commercial fusion power.

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