Nuclear fission generator1/15/2024 ![]() One advantage that SPARC may have over ITER is that SPARC's magnets are designed to confine its plasma. This is far faster than the world's largest fusion power project, known as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which was conceived in 1985 but not launched until 2007 and although construction began in 2013, the project is not expected to generate a fusion reaction until 2035. The SPARC project, which launched in 2018, is scheduled to begin construction next June, with the reactor starting operations in 2025. But no one has ever been able to harness the power of burning plasma in a controlled reaction here on Earth, and more research is needed before SPARC can do so. If it succeeds, SPARC would be the first device to ever achieve a "burning plasma," in which the heat from all the fusion reactions keeps fusion going without the need to pump in extra energy. Photos: Inside the world's top physics labs What's that? Your physics questions answered The biggest unsolved mysteries in physics The new experimental device, called the SPARC (Soonest/Smallest Private-Funded Affordable Robust Compact) reactor, is being developed by scientists at MIT and a spinoff company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems. ![]() These designs use powerful magnetic fields to confine a cloud of plasma, or ionized gas, at extreme temperatures, high enough for atoms to fuse together. Most experimental fusion reactors employ a donut-shaped Russian design called a tokamak. We need a solution for global warming - otherwise, civilization is in trouble. "Virtually all of us got into this research because we're trying to solve a really serious global problem," said study author Martin Greenwald, a plasma physicist at MIT and one of the lead scientists developing the new reactor. And the fuel for fusion - such as the element hydrogen - is plentiful enough on Earth to meet all of humanity's energy needs for millions of years. At the same time, fusion doesn't produce greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which drive global warming, nor does it generate other pollutants. However, such reactions can generate far more energy than they require. NASA also notes that the work done for this contract could have other future applications for propulsion systems for long-range spacecraft for deep space explorations.But an enormous amount of energy is needed to force atoms to fuse together, which occurs at temperatures of at least 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius). ![]() It may not seem like much, but deployed singularly or in groups to support a lunar base, it could solve a lot of the challenges of the kind of prolonged occupancy of the moon that NASA plans to eventually establish through its Artemis program, which seeks to return humans to our largest natural satellite for ongoing science missions.Ĭonditions on the moon (and Mars for that matter) exaggerate a lot of the same challenges we face with other power sources, like solar, here on Earth: Namely, they have to be able to operate consistently regardless of the availability of sunlight and in harsh environments. That’s about what a full charge on a current entry-level Nissan Leaf contains - but as a fission generator it would obviously provide that continuously. ![]() NASA is aptly partnering with the Department of Energy (DOE) on this project, and the specs include a 40-kilowatt power generation capability, capable of generating that for at least a decade. Each will be working with a few partners to develop their systems, which will be “initial concepts” only for the purposes of satisfying this particular contract, and each will receive roughly $5 million for their work, expected to take around 12 months. The winning bids for this award came from Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse and IX (a joint venture from Intuitive Machines and X-Energy). NASA announced on Tuesday that it’s contracting three suppliers to provide concept designs for nuclear fission energy systems designed for use on the moon. Nuclear fission may have to overcome a public perception hurdle here on Earth in order to get the funding and development it needs to advance sufficiently to help our with our de-carbonization efforts, but the mostly empty lunar surface sidesteps a lot of nuclear’s image problem. ![]()
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