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Nuclear Fusion (Read 4844 times)
Bobby.
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #15 - Sep 24th, 2019 at 4:13pm
 
Quote:
Fusion power offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible source of energy for future generations,
but it also presents so far insurmountable engineering challenges.



That's why we need to build 1000s of giant Thorium power stations
as quickly as possible to avoid a global catastrophe.
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juliar
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #16 - Sep 24th, 2019 at 4:21pm
 
Bobby still is dreaming about thorium. Apart from India and Netherlands nobody is much interested as uranium is much more developed.

An interesting description of the enormous complexity of Nuclear Fusion



Inside the nuclear fusion machine that could give us unlimited energy: Video reveals giant reactor with magnets the size of a 747
By ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD FOR DAILYMAIL.COM  PUBLISHED: 06:29 AEST, 19 March 2016 | UPDATED: 06:59 AEST, 19 March 2016

Iter uses electric current to trap plasma inside a doughnut-shaped device long enough for fusion to occur
Engineers in France are currently building its 18 magnets that each weigh between 113,400kg and 226,800kg
Rocket scientists have been recruited to create super-strong materials that can hold these magnets in place
Construction of the nuclear reactor is expected to be completed by 2019 with trials starting as early as 2020


It is being hailed as the 'holy grail' of energy - a device that could realise the dream of create limitless supplies of power.


The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) will be the world's largest tokamak nuclear fusion reactor when it's complete in 2019.

But its construction is proving a challenge.

A team of engineers in France is currently grappling with building the massive device, which has magnets that weigh as much as a Boeing 747.

A video released by the European Space Agency this week shows just how complex each component of the tokamak reactor is.

See all the awe inspiring pictures and a video here

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3499309/Inside-nuclear-fusion-ma...
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #17 - Sep 25th, 2019 at 2:20pm
 
juliar wrote on Sep 24th, 2019 at 4:10pm:
BH is warming to the idea of frankfurts at tea time.

Silly old Munkee is suffering from fusion of the mind. He has not got the remotest clue about the topic. he just wants to make a noise to try to get noticed as he is usually ignored as a waste of space.

But leaving the naysayers in the dust and back to the TOPIC.





Nuclear Fusion Power
(Updated July 2019)

https://s4.thingpic.com/images/Mi/PXbpiRM7qBfS28R8Tjyvuno7.png

Fusion power offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible source of energy for future generations, but it also presents so far insurmountable engineering challenges.

The fundamental challenge is to achieve a rate of heat emitted by a fusion plasma that exceeds the rate of energy injected into the plasma.

The main hope is centred on tokamak reactors and stellarators which confine a deuterium-tritium plasma magnetically.

Today, many countries take part in fusion research to some extent, led by the European Union, the USA, Russia and Japan, with vigorous programs also underway in China, Brazil, Canada, and Korea.

Initially, fusion research in the USA and USSR was linked to atomic weapons development, and it remained classified until the 1958 Atoms for Peace conference in Geneva.

Following a breakthrough at the Soviet tokamak, fusion research became 'big science' in the 1970s. But the cost and complexity of the devices involved increased to the point where international co-operation was the only way forward.

Fusion powers the Sun and stars as hydrogen atoms fuse together to form helium, and matter is converted into energy.

Hydrogen, heated to very high temperatures changes from a gas to a plasma in which the negatively-charged electrons are separated from the positively-charged atomic nuclei (ions).

Normally, fusion is not possible because the strongly repulsive electrostatic forces between the positively charged nuclei prevent them from getting close enough together to collide and for fusion to occur.

However, if the conditions are such that the nuclei can overcome the electrostatic forces to the extent that they can come within a very close range of each other, then the attractive nuclear force (which binds protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei) between the nuclei will outweigh the repulsive (electrostatic) force, allowing the nuclei to fuse together.

Such conditions can occur when the temperature increases, causing the ions to move faster and eventually reach speeds high enough to bring the ions close enough together. The nuclei can then fuse, causing a release of energy.

Fusion technology
In the Sun, massive gravitational forces create the right conditions for fusion, but on Earth they are much harder to achieve.

Fusion fuel – different isotopes of hydrogen – must be heated to extreme temperatures of the order of 50 million degrees Celsius, and must be kept stable under intense pressure, hence dense enough and confined for long enough to allow the nuclei to fuse.

The aim of the controlled fusion research program is to achieve 'ignition', which occurs when enough fusion reactions take place for the process to become self-sustaining, with fresh fuel then being added to continue it. Once ignition is achieved, there is net energy yield – about four times as much as with nuclear fission.

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the amount of power produced increases with the square of the pressure, so doubling the pressure leads to a fourfold increase in energy production.

With current technology, the reaction most readily feasible is between the nuclei of the two heavy forms (isotopes) of hydrogen – deuterium (D) and tritium (T).

Each D-T fusion event releases 17.6 MeV (2.8 x 10-12 joule, compared with 200 MeV for a U-235 fission and 3-4 MeV for D-D fusion).a On a mass basis, the D-T fusion reaction releases over four times as much energy as uranium fission.

Deuterium occurs naturally in seawater (30 grams per cubic metre), which makes it very abundant relative to other energy resources.

Tritium occurs naturally only in trace quantities (produced by cosmic rays) and is radioactive, with a half-life of around 12 years.

Usable quantities can be made in a conventional nuclear reactor, or in the present context, bred in a fusion system from lithium.b Lithium is found in large quantities (30 parts per million) in the Earth's crust and in weaker concentrations in the sea.

In a fusion reactor, the concept is that neutrons generated from the D-T fusion reaction will be absorbed in a blanket containing lithium which surrounds the core.

The lithium is then transformed into tritium (which is used to fuel the reactor) and helium. The blanket must be thick enough (about 1 metre) to slow down the high-energy (14 MeV) neutrons.

Read the full story here

https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/...




Wow thanks for posting that I hadn't read about fusion since the last time I read about it in my physics textbook.
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In a time of universal deceit — telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

No evidence whatsoever it can be attributed to George Orwell or Eric Arthur Blair (in fact the same guy)
 
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juliar
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #18 - Sep 26th, 2019 at 1:48pm
 
BH is that the one with cooking recipes in it ?
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juliar
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #19 - Sep 30th, 2019 at 8:58pm
 
Now how about some real heavy stuff ?


Nuclear fusion
PHYSICS WRITTEN BY: Robert W. Conn

...

Nuclear fusion, process by which nuclear reactions between light elements form heavier elements (up to iron). In cases where the interacting nuclei belong to elements with low atomic numbers (e.g., hydrogen [atomic number 1] or its isotopes deuterium and tritium), substantial amounts of energy are released.

The vast energy potential of nuclear fusion was first exploited in thermonuclear weapons, or hydrogen bombs, which were developed in the decade immediately following World War II. For a detailed history of this development, see nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, the potential peaceful applications of nuclear fusion, especially in view of the essentially limitless supply of fusion fuel on Earth, have encouraged an immense effort to harness this process for the production of power. For more detailed information on this effort, see fusion reactor.

This article focuses on the physics of the fusion reaction and on the principles of achieving sustained energy-producing fusion reactions.

The Fusion Reaction
Fusion reactions constitute the fundamental energy source of stars, including the Sun. The evolution of stars can be viewed as a passage through various stages as thermonuclear reactions and nucleosynthesis cause compositional changes over long time spans.

Hydrogen (H) “burning” initiates the fusion energy source of stars and leads to the formation of helium (He). Generation of fusion energy for practical use also relies on fusion reactions between the lightest elements that burn to form helium.

In fact, the heavy isotopes of hydrogen—deuterium (D) and tritium (T)—react more efficiently with each other, and, when they do undergo fusion, they yield more energy per reaction than do two hydrogen nuclei. (The hydrogen nucleus consists of a single proton. The deuterium nucleus has one proton and one neutron, while tritium has one proton and two neutrons.)

Fusion reactions between light elements, like fission reactions that split heavy elements, release energy because of a key feature of nuclear matter called the binding energy, which can be released through fusion or fission.

The binding energy of the nucleus is a measure of the efficiency with which its constituent nucleons are bound together. Take, for example, an element with Z protons and N neutrons in its nucleus.

The element’s atomic weight A is Z + N, and its atomic number is Z. The binding energy B is the energy associated with the mass difference between the Z protons and N neutrons considered separately and the nucleons bound together (Z + N) in a nucleus of mass M. The formula is

B = (Zmp + Nmn − M)c2,

where mp and mn are the proton and neutron masses and c is the speed of light.

It has been determined experimentally that the binding energy per nucleon is a maximum of about 1.4 10−12 joule at an atomic mass number of approximately 60—that is, approximately the atomic mass number of iron. Accordingly, the fusion of elements lighter than iron or the splitting of heavier ones generally leads to a net release of energy.

Read on here to learn the complexities of Nuclear Fusion.

https://www.britannica.com/science/nuclear-fusion#ref259117
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #20 - Sep 30th, 2019 at 10:19pm
 
juliar wrote on Sep 26th, 2019 at 1:48pm:
BH is that the one with cooking recipes in it ?



No the one I got when I attended ARPANSA for radiation safety training.
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In a time of universal deceit — telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

No evidence whatsoever it can be attributed to George Orwell or Eric Arthur Blair (in fact the same guy)
 
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juliar
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #21 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 1:43am
 
BH, is that microwave cooking radiation ?
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Bobby.
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #22 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 4:42am
 
juliar wrote on Sep 24th, 2019 at 4:21pm:
Bobby still is dreaming about thorium. Apart from India and Netherlands nobody is much interested as uranium is much more developed.




But fusion is always 20 years away.
It's been 20 years away every year for the last 70 years.
Even the giant ITER reactor is only a prototype.

A Thorium reactor was working in 1968.



...

Alvin Weinberg, then the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, marks 6000 power hours performance of his brainchild, the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, in October 1967.
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juliar
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #23 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 8:56am
 
Yes Bobby everyone knows that.

But it was basically a prototype in the lab and was abandoned to make bombs with plutonium from nuclear reactors.

Now enormous development has gone into nuclear reactors so they are almost a package deal now being used for submarines and aircraft carriers and France has most successfully employed them.

See the catch is that there is not enough financial incentive as yet to undertake the enormous amount of costly research and development work required to bring thorium reactors up to commercial readiness. And thorium reactors are not without their operational problems.

India has been trying for nearly a century to build one without any real success and similarly the Netherlands has had a go at it.

But India and the Netherlands are technically primitive compared to the USA and until the USA decides to develop a practical commercial thorium reactor then they won't exist.

And if the nuclear fusion reactor being built right now is a success then nobody will bother with thorium.

Only time will tell.
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #24 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 9:03am
 
juliar wrote on Oct 1st, 2019 at 8:56am:
Yes Bobby everyone knows that.

But it was basically a prototype in the lab and was abandoned to make bombs with plutonium from nuclear reactors.

Now enormous development has gone into nuclear reactors so they are almost a package deal now being used for submarines and aircraft carriers and France has most successfully employed them.

See the catch is that there is not enough financial incentive as yet to undertake the enormous amount of costly research and development work required to bring thorium reactors up to commercial readiness. And thorium reactors are not without their operational problems.

India has been trying for nearly a century to build one without any real success and similarly the Netherlands has had a go at it.

But India and the Netherlands are technically primitive compared to the USA and until the USA decides to develop a practical commercial thorium reactor then they won't exist.

And if the nuclear fusion reactor being built right now is a success then nobody will bother with thorium.

Only time will tell.


The Indians or Chinese will have
a working Thorium reactor in
less than 2 years.


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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #25 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 9:33am
 
Bobby. wrote on Oct 1st, 2019 at 4:42am:
juliar wrote on Sep 24th, 2019 at 4:21pm:
Bobby still is dreaming about thorium. Apart from India and Netherlands nobody is much interested as uranium is much more developed.




But fusion is always 20 years away.
It's been 20 years away every year for the last 70 years.
Even the giant ITER reactor is only a prototype.

A Thorium reactor was working in 1968.



https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/styles/main_image_style/public/news/ima...

Alvin Weinberg, then the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, marks 6000 power hours performance of his brainchild, the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, in October 1967.


like hydrogen all of sockos recommendations are always 20 years away Cheesy LOL
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In August 2021, Newcastle Coroner Karen Dilks recorded that Lisa Shaw had died “due to complications of an AstraZeneca COVID vaccination”.
 
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Bobby.
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #26 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 9:42am
 
Sir lastnail wrote on Oct 1st, 2019 at 9:33am:
Bobby. wrote on Oct 1st, 2019 at 4:42am:
juliar wrote on Sep 24th, 2019 at 4:21pm:
Bobby still is dreaming about thorium. Apart from India and Netherlands nobody is much interested as uranium is much more developed.




But fusion is always 20 years away.
It's been 20 years away every year for the last 70 years.
Even the giant ITER reactor is only a prototype.

A Thorium reactor was working in 1968.



https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/styles/main_image_style/public/news/ima...

Alvin Weinberg, then the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, marks 6000 power hours performance of his brainchild, the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, in October 1967.


like hydrogen all of sockos recommendations are always 20 years away Cheesy LOL



The only reason we don't have safe, cheap,
unlimited Thorium power is that all the research
money went into Uranium reactors to make
Plutonium for evil nuclear weapons.
1000 years from now they will look back
at the criminals who made nuclear weapons
instead of cheap power and they will
be named and disgraced.
There is simply no reason why we are
still burning coal other than criminals
who run our lives.
I hope they all burn in hell.

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juliar
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #27 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 12:03pm
 
The totally loony demented crazy Greeny Scunge slides in to display her legendary ignorance.

Bobby seems to be despairing as the disappointing truth about Thorium that was beaten by uranium leaks out.

This time next century no doubt India will be still trying to get theirs going in the lab.


But hope springs eternal as there is a company in Canada that is trying to make a thorium machine.

http://www.thoriumpowercanada.com/technology/



...

Let’s produce a GWye!
(1 GWye = roughly the electricity for one million people, living by western standards, for one year)

Let us suppose it is our mission to produce electricity for a run-of-the-mill city with about 1 million inhabitants living by Western standards. This city will need about thousand megawatts of electricity, year round, in short 1GWye.

In the visual, I compare four ways to accomplish this, along with the input and output of each of the options.

For those who wonder: yes, I redrew the original scheme of Kirk Sorensen. I copied his info on the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor and conventional nuclear, the Light Water Reactor.

I added two options though: coal and the IMSR. Coal is what all nuclear options should be compared to. IMSR is LeBlanc’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor, which I think is Sorensen’s main competition in new nuclear.

Read on here

http://www.daretothink.org/numbers-not-adjectives/lets-produce-a-gwye/

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Bobby.
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #28 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 12:20pm
 
Juliar proves that Thorium is the best solution.

Thanks.
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juliar
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Re: Nuclear Fusion
Reply #29 - Oct 1st, 2019 at 12:34pm
 
Wonder how the Canadian Company will go ?

Their blurb sounds good but how many of their thorium reactors have been installed ?  Are there any actually working ?  Will it all just fizzle thru lack of interest ?
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