China hopes to produce virtually unlimited clean energy through nuclear fusion power in the next six years, according to one of the country’s leading nuclear weapons scientists.
Speaking at a meeting organized by the Beijing-based think tank Techxcope, Professor Peng Xianjue of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Physics said the Chinese government has approved the construction of the world’s largest pulsed power plant in Chengdu in Sichuan province.
“Fusion ignition is the most important thing in science and technology in today’s world,” Professor Peng said, according to The South China Morning Post, which first reported the announcement.
Becoming the world’s first country to achieve energy-scale fusion release will be the most important milestone on the road to fusion energy for humans.
Nuclear fusion has been described as the “holy grail” of energy sources. It promises unlimited energy because it mimics the natural reactions that occur in the Sun, where enormous amounts of energy are released when hydrogen atoms combine to form helium atoms.
Until now, this process has not been feasible due to the very high temperatures and complexity of maintaining the plasma in the core of the reactor.
This month, a research team in South Korea reported that they had succeeded for the first time in sustaining a nuclear fusion reaction for 30 seconds, operating at temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees Celsius.
The best results so far achieved by Chinese scientists using an “artificial sun” is a reaction sustained for more than 17 minutes at a slightly cooler 70 million degrees Celsius.
Nuclear fusion has been described as the “holy grail” of energy sources. It promises unlimited energy because it mimics the natural reactions that occur in the Sun, where enormous amounts of energy are released when hydrogen atoms combine to form helium atoms.
Until now, this process has not been feasible due to the very high temperatures and complexity of maintaining the plasma in the core of the reactor.
This month, a research team in South Korea reported that they had succeeded for the first time in sustaining a nuclear fusion reaction for 30 seconds, operating at temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees Celsius.
The best results so far achieved by Chinese scientists using an “artificial sun” is a reaction sustained for more than 17 minutes at a slightly cooler 70 million degrees Celsius.
The Chinese power plant will rely on something called a Z-pinch machine, which mimics the fusion reaction of a thermonuclear bomb by means of large electric thrusters. These are typically used to develop atomic weapons and were only recently recognized as a viable route to nuclear fusion energy because of the distortions that occur in the plasma that cause it to collapse.
New approaches to stabilize the plasma, such as a process called intermittent axial flow, suggest that a full-scale nuclear fusion plant could be possible in the future through this technique. But Professor Peng said the fusion process in the new plant would first be used to drive particles into uranium, which would in turn energize a fission reactor.
The Z-pinch machine is expected to be completed in 2025, while the expected completion date for the entire plant is 2028. Professor Peng estimates that by 2035 the plant will be able to produce commercial nuclear fusion energy directly for the electricity grid.
Several challenges remain before this ultimate goal can be realized, including the design of specialized parts that can support the process, but if successful, the plant has the potential to meet energy demands for tens of thousands of years.
the main source of the news: https://www.independent.co.uk
