Nuclear fusion is becoming a reality.
On December 13, 2022, the US Department of Energy announced that the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will produce more energy than it puts into fuel in a laser-based fusion experiment, creating a “net gain” . for the first time in the world in doing
Ministry secretary Jennifer Granholm said the result was a step forward in the commercialization of nuclear fusion reactors, which are expected to be a “dream energy source” that does not emit carbon dioxide or high-level radioactive waste.
The idea of generating electricity through nuclear fusion itself originated in the 1950s, and countries around the world have been conducting research for its practical application to this day.
At the time, it was believed that “this research would be a long-term effort” and nuclear fusion power generation has yet to be put into practice.
The reason that nuclear fusion power generation is difficult is that the following three conditions, called the Lawson conditions, must be satisfied simultaneously.
(1) Plasma (Note 1) reaches a temperature of about 100 million degrees Celsius or more (temperature)
(2) The number of atomic nuclei in 1 cubic centimeter is 100 trillion or more (density)
(3) Plasma confinement time is 1 second or more (time)
There is also an opinion that the realization of nuclear fusion power generation is impossible.
“To build a practical fusion reactor, you need materials that can withstand temperatures of millions of degrees continuously for many years. In addition, high-energy nucleons (protons and neutrons) are constantly colliding with each other. Ordinary materials become brittle and radioactive, and some even fusion fuels must be produced by complex breeding processes (Source: Nikkei Science, June 2010).
On the other hand, Taishi Sugiyama, senior researcher at the Canon Institute for Global Studies, an expert on energy policy, said, “Nuclear fusion is no longer a pipe dream, but an accessible technology. Important issues such as design, materials and the control are. We already have a solution in sight,” he said.
(Source: JBpress “Nuclear fusion is within reach, Japan should accelerate technology development with large-scale investment Lead ‘Apollo Program’ version of nuclear fusion and solve global warming at once” 2022.8.13,https://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/71358）
French science fiction writer Jules Verne published “Journey to the Moon” in the second half of the 19th century.
Jules Verne once said, “What man can imagine, man can do.” Since then, just as Verne said, human beings have achieved dream technology many times.
And now, in 2023, I believe that nuclear fusion power generation is finally becoming a reality as technology advances.
Furthermore, although fusion power generation is expected to be put into practice in the coming decades, the author believes that the advancement of laser technology and the entry of private sector initiatives could accelerate its practical use.
This paper summarizes the mechanism, history and experimental results of nuclear fusion power generation.
In the following, I will first describe the mechanisms of nuclear fission and fusion, then describe the research and development history of fusion power generation, then describe the fusion power generation method, and finally describe the fusion power generation experiments. merger to date. will describe the results of the
(Note 1) When the temperature of a substance increases, the state of the substance changes from solid to liquid and from liquid to gas.
As the temperature of the gas rises, the gas molecules dissociate into atoms, and as the temperature rises further, the electrons revolving around the nucleus separate from the atoms and separate into positive ions and electrons.
Plasma is a state in which positive ions and electrons move separately.
In plasma, the nuclei are not protected by the electron roof, so they collide with each other and sometimes fuse together.
Therefore, it must be plasma to cause nuclear fusion.
