If it looks like a set from a Hollywood sci-fi show, then it’s probably worth it. Because what they’re doing here makes stars on Earth. “We can make miniature stars. “Fusion is the same reaction as moving the sun and the stars,” said Tammy MA, who leads the Fusion Energy Initiative at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, California. This is part of the same government lab that ensures the safety and reliability of the country’s nuclear stockpile.
“Every time we do fusion experiments at NIF, we are actually the hottest place in the entire solar system and hotter than the center of the sun,” Ma said.
The scientists here use the largest laser ever built. It is located in a huge room, the size of three soccer fields, 1,000 times more powerful than the entire US electric grid. Here, the 192 laser beam travels almost a mile, then focusing on a small target or fuel pellet, smaller than the peppercorn. When the laser hits the pellet, the atoms “fuse” together, releasing energy in the process.
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The diameter of that small fuel pellet is only about 2 millimeters. However, the outcome can be enormous.
Fusion is the process of integrating atoms and releasing more energy than nuclear fission (dividing atoms). Nuclear fission is used by today’s nuclear power plants to create hazardous nuclear waste. It does not fuse.
Fusion, in theory, warms the planet, drives our world without the fossil fuels that contribute to climate change, providing an almost endless source of clean, safe energy. It makes energy-intensive technologies like vertical agriculture and desalination much cheaper, potentially solving global food and water problems. MA said, “It’s perfectly clean. There’s no carbon in the equation. There’s no high level of nuclear waste. You can place fusion power plants almost anywhere. Even as energy needs grow, it will help meet all the energy needs of the United States and the future.”
However, fusion is difficult. After 60 years of research by NIF scientists, they eventually produced reactions (also known as “ignitions”) that produce more energy than they consume. Breakthroughs in 2022is important for creating fusion power plants and has made headlines all over the world. Humans have unleashed the power of the stars.
They have achieved ignition several times since then, and now the race produces enough energy to consistently power the commercial fusion plant.
Bob Mumgaard is CEO and co-founder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems outside of Boston and is one of more than 20 Fusion Startups, earning billions of dollars in funding from governments and investors. “It’s going to take time, I’ll do my job, but this is the birth of an industry,” Mumgard said.
Instead of lasers, the Federation uses a cloud of ultra-heated plasma that burns at approximately 180 million degrees Fahrenheit, held in place by giant magnets the company manufactures on-site. “The magnets on this machine will be the most powerful magnet in the world,” says Mumgaard. “(They) were able to lift the carriers of the aircraft.”
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Commonwealth plans to complete the demonstration reactor next year. They have just announced plans to build Virginia’s first full-scale power plant, but it will not supply energy to the grid until the next decade. Mumgaard said the demonstration reactor was “the penultimate step.”
Critics point out that fusion power is always a constant holy grail 20-30 years away. But startups like Commonwealth say they’re different this time. This technology is progressing as quickly as the need for clean energy is growing. The stars are here in harmony along the quest to create stars on Earth.
“This is not a paper practice for us,” Mmard said. “We’re putting this machine together, we buy parts, we’re machining parts, we’re all together at the exact time the world really needs something like this. I think that’s really cool.”
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A story created by Chris Spined and John Goodwin. Editor: Emanuele Secci.
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