The United States is preparing to launch the world's first commercial fusion reactor
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS USA) has begun construction of a fusion energy building campus. A unique thermonuclear reactor SPARC will be built in Devens, Massachusetts, on the territory that was previously owned by the US military. In addition, the company's corporate buildings will be erected nearby, as well as a plant where similar devices will be produced on an industrial scale.
A working thermonuclear reactor is a dream of mankind
Scientists around the world have been struggling for several decades with the task of obtaining a controlled process of thermonuclear fusion. The energy that is released during the fusion of two hydrogen atoms and the formation of a helium atom is considered the most environmentally friendly. And in the future it is considered the cheapest source of energy, with the help of which the issue of providing energy to all mankind will be solved once and for all.
But the problem lies in the fact that working with plasma requires heating it up to an incredible temperature of 200 million degrees Celsius. And until now, scientists have been struggling to eventually get more energy at the output than was spent on heating and maintaining the plasma in this state.
But, as the developers assure, they managed to solve this fundamental problem.
New technologies in a fusion reactor
According to the company's engineers, their thermonuclear installation will operate on the basis of innovative high-temperature superconducting magnets, which are planned to be produced directly on site.
Scientists claim that their HNS are magnets and there is a key technology that in the future will allow the creation of similar thermonuclear reactors literally all over the world.
Demonstration work of new superconducting magnets is scheduled for June 2021. The installed capacity of the SPARC reactor will be 100 MW. According to the representatives of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the energy generated by the reactor will be at least twice the power required to heat the plasma.
Thus, a positive difference will be obtained between the consumed and received energies from the fusion reactor.
After the production technology is fine-tuned, the company plans to build SPARC reactors around the world, including an increased capacity of 200 MW.
Well, let's see how the American company will be able to implement a commercial thermonuclear reactor and whether they will succeed get ahead of the international project ITER, according to which an experimental thermonuclear reactor. According to the plan, it should enter industrial energy production by about 2035.
Did you like the material? Then put your finger up and subscribe to the channel. Thank you for attention!