Fusion is one of those topics that just won’t go away. It has tormented countless scientists and relegated others into virtual obscurity. Not to mention, it has wreaked havoc on engineers who struggle with even the smallest of containment issues. From the high heat to the supercharged velocities, fusion is a struggle, even to talk about. To make matters even worse, there seems to be a whole jumble of policy mayhem attached with the thought of fusion. Who knows how to solve all of these issues… I certainly don’t.
But, before we can solve the issues, perhaps it is a good idea to really sit down, and think about what issues are really at hand. Is it the science? Funding? Or general mood? What do you think?
First off, lets talk about what fusion is really briefly (and without all of the nightmarish mathematics). Fusion is when two small atoms collide and merge. In the process, they release energy and form another, different atom. Usually, the process of fusion is undertaken by D- deuterium and T- tritium. These are simply ‘heavy’ hydrogen atoms, i.e. hydrogen that has an extra neutron attached to it.
So, when we collide deuterium and tritium we get a combination and in the process we release energy. Simple enough, right?
Wrong.
The main issue with fusion is that incredibly high temperatures are needed to collide the particles successfully. These temperatures are around 50-100 million degrees Celsius. Not exactly your ‘hot day’. But, the temperature is just the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended). When it comes to high temperature, you wind up turning the deuterium and tritium into charged gasses, or plasmas. These plasmas, when extremely hot, tend to expand.
Think back to your chemistry ideal gas law!
However, this expanding plasma is far from ideal. In fact, it is one of the biggest issues. The only way for fusion to take place is to keep the deuterium in a confined space. This is done by either confining it though magnetic containment or inertial confinement. The first is self-explanatory: a magnetic field keeps the plasma within a confined space, stopping it from spreading out. The second, inertial confinement, takes a bit more thinking. Inertial confinement uses lasers to focus energy on deuterium or tritium. This process uses many, many lasers. One of the preeminent laboratories OMEGA has 60.
For both of these confinement tactics, the dominant scientific and engineering issue is achieving ignition. From magnetic containment, the amount of energy necessary to maintain a strong magnetic electronic field is immense. Furthermore, to charge the plasma inside the field to the appropriate temperature is difficult as well. For inertial containment, keeping the lasers running at an efficient level is the hardest factor. Since laser technology is so weak and inefficient at the present, it is crucial to continue to develop engineering aspects before inertial fusion can become a viable option.
Also, since 1989 there have been underground murmurs about cold fusion. That is, fusion that occurs due to an electrochemical anomaly between deuterium enriched water and platinum. However, scientific inaccuracies mixed with general skepticism have rendered this theory virtually dead within the scientific community.
From a policy perspective, fusion has been mostly an issue of unfair expectations. From the 1950’s fusion has been promised as the energy of the future. The cheap alternative that is finally available. However, fusion has sort of been like a carrot attached to the front of the donkey’s head… just out of reach. Although we keep chasing it, society is gradually becoming disheartened and less optimistic about the thought of fusion.
What is the solution? Well now that we are at a position where fusion, to most people, seems like little more than a pipe dream, how we do we turn the ship around? Scientists, for one, should not try and issue every proclamation about fusion as being the next ‘great thing’. Just because someone has a development in laser technology does not mean that we will all be running off of 1 cent a kWh fusion electricity in 5 year. In all likelihood, the engineering advancements necessary to undertake a fusion ignition are 30 years away, at best. If scientist would more willingly admit the truths (that most engineers understand), perhaps the policy makers would craft funding and hopes appropriately.
Either way, the future of fusion is not dead. But the hard truth is, that fusion may not even be born for a while. Only time will tell.
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