Tritium: a challenging fuel for fusion

Tritium: a challenging fuel for fusion

Eurofusion November 8th 2017 Picture 1: Schematic diagram of the tritium breeding inside a fusion reactor. Deuteriumtritium atoms fuse in a hot plasma to produce one atom of helium-4 atom, one neutron and, along with it, energy. The fusion neutrons will escape the plasma and react with lithium atoms present in the so-called breeding blanket … Read more

Physicists improve vertical stability of superconducting Korean fusion device

Physicists improve vertical stability of superconducting Korean fusion device

Phys.org November 6, 2017 by John Greenwald Physicist Dennis Mueller with image of KSTAR on scree at left. Credit: Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications A major challenge facing the development of fusion energy is maintaining the ultra-hot plasma that fuels fusion reactions in a steady state, or sustainable, form using superconducting magnetic coils to avoid … Read more

Can nuclear fusion power the globe?

Can nuclear fusion power the globe?

Utility Helpline 30th October 2017 Today marks the 3,224th anniversary of the earliest recorded solar eclipse. Researchers at the University of Cambridge worked retrospectively to put a date of 30 October 1207 BC to the eclipse which was referenced in the Bible. The research allowed historians to put a more accurate date to the reign … Read more

United States blocks Iran from fusion megaproject

United States blocks Iran from fusion megaproject

Science Oct. 31, 2017 Preparing for future ties, an ITER team visits an Iranian fusion facility. ITER ORGANIZATION TEHRAN—The Iran nuclear deal was meant to usher in a new era of science cooperation between the Islamic republic and other parties to the landmark agreement, which deters the country from pursuing nuclear weapons in exchange for … Read more

Agitators, regulators and predators on the prowl

Agitators, regulators and predators on the prowl

By Paul Driessen Oct. 29, 2017 They’re going for a knockout and jackpot on a farm chemical, a corporation – and science Legal and scientific ethics seem to have become irrelevant, as anti-chemical agitators, regulators and trial lawyers team up on numerous lawsuits against Monsanto. They’re seeking tens of billions of dollars in jackpot justice, … Read more

The Uncertain Future of Fusion Energy

The Uncertain Future of Fusion Energy

Energy Collective October 23, 2017 A giant reactor under construction seeks to achieve net energy gain, but some canny start-ups may get there first. Nuclear fusion has long been hailed as the clean energy source of the future, but has so far failed to live up to this promise. Though it was only three years … Read more

FUSION ENERGY: HOW SCIENTISTS ARE CREATING PLASMA HOTTER THAN THE SUN IN QUEST FOR LIMITLESS CLEAN ENERGY

FUSION ENERGY: HOW SCIENTISTS ARE CREATING PLASMA HOTTER THAN THE SUN IN QUEST FOR LIMITLESS CLEAN ENERGY

Newsweek BY HANNAH OSBORNE ON 10/23/17 Scientists believe that fusion energy—which generates electricity in the same way that the sun creates energy—has the potential to provide the world with an almost limitless, clean source of power. But while it is known that fusing two lighter atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus releases energy, it … Read more

World’s Biggest Science Project Feels the Heat From Renewables

World’s Biggest Science Project Feels the Heat From Renewables

Washington Post Anna Hirtenstein | Oct 20, 2017 (Bloomberg) — The world’s biggest scientific experiment is on course to become the most expensive source of surplus power. Components of the 20 billion-euro ($24 billion) project are already starting to pile up at a construction site in the south of France, where about 800 scientists plan … Read more

Multiscale simulations help predict unruly plasma behavior

Multiscale simulations help predict unruly plasma behavior

Phys.org September 21, 2017 by Kathy Kincade Visualization of temperature fluctuations from a high-resolution simulation of a plasma discharge in the DIII-D tokamak. The DIII-D plasma was designed to match many of the plasma parameters targeted in ITER operation. Credit: Chris Holland Decades of fusion research have brought many advances in our understanding of the … Read more