Methods of Fusion
Abstract
Nuclear fusion was discussed in this paper. First, the reader is given an introduction to nuclear power and is then led to fission/fusion. Fusion is discussed as being better than fission and reasons are given as to why that is so. Fusion methods are then discussed and current and planned machines are placed for discussion. Lastly, the machines are summarized.
Introduction
Today, you hear news about nuclear power. But what is nuclear power? Well, in an atom, there is a force known as the strong nuclear force, which exists in atoms. The first way is fission, which breaks the atom apart using some method. This is the method that is currently providing 20% of the power in the power grid. The other less developed method is still in the testing stage but the basic concept is fusion. Hydrogen isotopes (atoms with different numbers of neutrons) are combined together using several different methods which will be discussed later. This results in bonds, which generate energy (Jensen 2006).
Discussion
Now you know how fission is being utilized throughout the world, and you have a basic idea of how nuclear power works. However, there is a problem with nuclear fission being that there are many dangers. For one, nuclear fission creates nuclear waste, which cannot be destroyed and must be stored somewhere. Also, this waste is radioactive which makes the life surrounding the waste exposed to radiation and as a result, the waste destroys the nearby ecosystem. Also, if there happens to be a meltdown, radiation could spread for miles depending on the wind and kill many people. Take Chernobyl for example. There was a nuclear reactor there that meltdown. As a result, the area in a 20-
Methods of Fusion
mile radius around the plant had to be evacuated because the radiation levels were so high. The fuel is uncommon and takes time to purify in some cases.
The solution to this problem is to use nuclear fusion. Through this, humankind has a much better way to create energy on the scale of MW. Not to mention, the fuel needed for nuclear fusion is only deuterium and tritium, which is an isotope of hydrogen, the most common element on Earth. Also, the energy output is very high. For example, JET, the Joint European Tokomak can produce 16 MW in one pulse. That’s 16 million watts. Also, the waste product of the fusion reactor is not radioactive but is instead helium.
The development of nuclear industry has been a cornerstone for the world's technological revolution. Since the discovery of fission more than a half century ago, nuclear power has become a major source of the world's electricity supply. By 1989, 416 nuclear power plants were in operation, thus providing approximately seventeen percent of the world's electricity (Waczewski, 1997). With more than one hundred nuclear operating plants, the United States easily gains the title as having the world's largest nuclear energy program.
After World War II, nuclear power became the world’s shining energy hope. Technically it is produced when neutrons split the nucleus of uranium atoms releasing heat which is used to boil water and produce the steam that drives a plant’s turbines. Nuclear...
Nuclear energy must be a consideration for the future with the rapidly depleting supply of fossil fuels. This type of energy can be created through nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission is the splitting of a heavy atom into two or more parts, releasing huge amounts of energy. The release of energy can be controlled and captured for generating electricity. Nuclear fusion involves bombarding hydrogen atoms together to form helium. In the long run, nuclear fusion has greater potential than fission.
Fusion power is inherently safer than other forms of energy generation, such fission, as well. As mentioned, fusion produces no long-term nuclear waste. I...
Considering the fact that fusion possesses environmental and safety advantages over all current alternatives for electricity sources, its development is a very important component in any strategy designed to allow economic growth to continue world-wide in the longer term, without generating major global environmental deterioration. Thus the case for investing a small part of our current output in the development of fusion is an aspect of the more general case for sustainable development. Involvement in the world-wide programme to bring fusion technology to a commercially usable state is a wise contribution to sustainable development. Fusion technology brought to completion would be an asset of the utmost value to give to our descendants.
Nuclear energy is energy produced in a nuclear reaction. This reaction can be naturally produced or can be artificially made. Both fission and fusion are examples of nuclear energy.
Nuclear power, or nuclear energy, is the use of exothermic nuclear processes,[1] to generate useful heat and electricity. The term includes nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion. Presently the nuclear fission of elements in the actinide series of the periodic table produce the vast majority of nuclear energy in the direct service of humankind, with nuclear decay processes, primarily in the form of geothermal energy, and radioisotope thermoelectric generators, in niche uses making up the rest. Nuclear (fission) power stations, excluding the contribution from naval nuclear fission reactors, provided about 5.7% of the world's energy and 13% of the world's electricity in 2012.[2] In 2013, the IAEA report that there are 437 operational nuclear power reactors,[3] in 31 countries,[4] although not every reactor is producing electricity.[5] In addition, there are approximately 140 naval vessels using nuclear propulsion in operation, powered by some 180 reactors.[6][7][8] As of 2013, attaining a net energy gain from sustained nuclear fusion reactions, excluding natural fusion power...
The idea of Fusion energy came from a man who lived in the 20th century. He thought that mass could in fact, be converted into raw energy. His name was Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of his time. As the years went by, physicists came to know of two ways to convert mass into energy. The two methods are known as fission and fusion. Fission is where neutrons are induced in a cycle of fissions to create more fission and so on. Fusion energy is energy produced nuclear fusion reactions. When two atomic nuclei fuse to create a bigger and heavier nucleus, extra mass in converted into energy. This energy is very hot and heats plasma up to ten times that of the sun. The trick is to keep the energy bottled up and going, scientist‟s predictions are all over the place and we still
Now in our modern society we have a big need for energy and are trying to find alternative types of energy power plants. Nuclear power plants are used in more than 30 countries all around the world (World nuclear association, n.d. para.3). These power plants are able to generate electricity continuously for many months at a time without interruption (World nuclear association, n.d.para.2). Nuclear power plants produce electricity by going through the process of fission. They have pros and cons as well, they can bring more jobs helping out the economy but also the radiation waste that is given off of the plants can harm many people’s health.
As a source of energy, nuclear energy provides a safer alternative, for the production of energy for large-scale consumption. There are two different types of nuclear energy; nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission is the process in which a nucleus spits into two or more smaller nuclei. Nuclear fusion is the process in which two nuclei fuse together to form a larger nuclei. Nuclear reactors can become unstable creating an uncontrollable nuclear reaction. The effects of this can be seen in Chernobyl. Reactors have been designed safer after this disaster.
The issue of the world’s energy crisis is becoming a topic of everyday conversation, we are constantly surrounded by statements that coal and natural gas could run out in as soon as 50 years time. One possible solution to this problem is to get our energy from nuclear plants instead of the current reactors which use fossil fuels. Currently, nuclear power stations use the process of nuclear fission or induced fission; this is the process of firing neutrons at Uraniam-235 causing it to split into two lighter elements, causing a large amount of energy and high energy neutrons to be released.
Today our society is using more energy than ever. With the increase in demand for energy, problems are presented that have to be addressed. One of the biggest and most prevalent problems is the need for clean, renewable, sustainable energy. On the forefront of these problems comes the following solutions: nuclear energy, hydro-electric energy, and photovoltaic energy. With the need of energy in today’s current world, exploring different ways of producing power are necessary. The differences and similarities of nuclear energy and alternative energy are important to look over and examine in depth, so that it is plain to see the positive and negative effects of energy production.
It is a nuclear process, where energy is produced by smashing together light atoms. It is the opposite reaction to fission, where heavy isotopes are split apart. How fusion works is deuterium and tritium, both of the heavy isotopes of hydrogen, fuse together, their component parts are recombined into a helium atom and a fast neutron. As the two heavy isotopes are reassembled into a helium atom, you have ‘extra’ mass leftover which is converted into the kinetic energy of the neutron, according to Einstein’s formula: E=mc2. A pioneer who discovered nuclear fusion is a scientist by the name of Hans Bethe, discovering it in the 1930’s. Beginning in the 1940’s researchers began to seek out or find new ways to initiate and control fusion reactions to produce useful energy on Earth. Researchers later began work on a device called the tokamak. The tokamak is defined as a toroidal (resembling a torus) apparatus for producing controlled fusion reactions in hot
The Industrial Revolution sparked a need for large sources of energy. Human and animal labor could not provide the power necessary to power industrial machinery, railroads, and ships. The steam engine and later the internal combustion engine provided the bulk of the energy required by the industrial age. Today most nations are still heavily reliant on energy that comes from combustion. Usually coal, petrolium, and natural gas are used. Some hydroelectric, wind power, and nuclear fission sources are used, but in the US they accounted for less than 20% of the total energy consumption in 1997 (1). Many experts are worried that natural resources such as coal and petrolium are being depleted faster than they are being replenished, which could result in an energy crisis. Nuclear fission produces highly radioactive waste that is expensive to dispose of properly. Nuclear fusion reactors would produce much less radioactive waste and would be more efficient than nuclear fission, but to date there have been no nuclear fusion reactors that have generated usable energy output. Why is fusion power, which could be very beneficial, so hard to come by?
Nuclear energy is generated by a process called fission. Fission occurs within the reactor of a nuclear power plant when a neutron is fired at an atom of uranium causing it to split and release subsequent neutrons.1 These are able to crash into other uranium atoms causing a chain reaction and releasing a great deal of heat energy.