A fusion reactor generates energy with 14kg of explosives

The JET reactor set a new record by generating 59 megajoules of energy in a reaction that lasted 5 seconds.

A fusion test project sets a new record for energy production on Earth using the same type of reaction that powers the Sun. Specifically, the UK's Joint European Torus (JET) fusion reactor, which generated 59 megajoules of energy (equivalent to about 14 kg of TNT) in a five-second reaction, more than twice the old record. is 21.7 megajoules established by JET in 1997.

Inside the JET reactor, where the experiment produced 59 megajoules of energy.

The JET team announced the new results on February 9, after more than two decades of testing and improvement at the Culham Center for Fusion Energy, Oxfordshire, England. This is considered an important milestone on the road to turning fusion into a sustainable and viable low-carbon energy source.

The JET reactor is built to contain plasma, or strongly ionized gases, that heat to 150 million degrees Celsius - 10 times hotter than the center of the Sun. At such high temperatures, atomic nuclei can fuse together to form new elements and release huge amounts of energy. The same fusion reaction that powers the Sun, but at a significantly lower temperature because the stars are supported by gravity.

The experiments at JET focused on testing the feasibility of fusion with a fuel derived from two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium. They can combine to form helium gas. The new results show that this is possible, and provide important information for ITER, the larger fusion project under development in the south of France. ITER plans to start burning deuterium-tritium fuel in 2035.

If the ITER project goes well, experts will build a power plant in Europe and connect it to the grid. Fusion is a very potential energy source because it does not emit greenhouse gases. 1kg of fusion fuel contains about 10 million times more energy than 1kg of coal, oil or gas.

Deuterium is abundant in seawater, but tritium is extremely rare and is produced in nuclear reactors. Future fusion plants, including ITER, are expected to produce their own tritium fuel by using high-energy neutrons, released when deuterium and tritium fuse, to split the lithium metal into tritium and helium.

The JET experiment releases fusion energy in just 5 seconds, but has shown the fuel can burn sustainably, said Dr Mark Wenman, an expert on nuclear materials at Imperial College London. . "It's been a long time since they've set such a record and it's an important milestone on the road to proving fusion as a viable and sustainable energy source for the future," he said.

"5 seconds doesn't sound like much, but if you can burn it for 5 seconds, you can probably keep it steady and burn for minutes, hours, or days. That's what you need to build." a fusion power plant," added Wenman.