Oxford's JET lab smashes nuclear fusion energy output record

[1andrew1]

Some interesting and positive news

European scientists say they have made a major breakthrough in their quest to develop practical nuclear fusion - the energy process that powers the stars.

The UK-based JET laboratory has smashed its own world record for the amount of energy it can extract by squeezing together two forms of hydrogen.

The experiments produced 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds (11 megawatts of power).

This is more than double what was achieved in similar tests back in 1997.

It's not a massive energy output - only enough to boil about 60 kettles' worth of water. But the significance is that it validates design choices that have been made for an even bigger fusion reactor now being constructed in France.

"The JET experiments put us a step closer to fusion power," said Dr Joe Milnes, the head of operations at the reactor lab. "We've demonstrated that we can create a mini star inside of our machine and hold it there for five seconds and get high performance, which really takes us into a new realm."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60312633
Also https://news.sky.com/story/uk-scient...-away-12536956

[Carth]

I can go chop a few tree branches and start a fire that will boil 60 kettles of water . . . and keep my feet warm too . . at considerably less cost.


The more trees I chop down, the more kettles I can boil . .. progress

Originally Posted by Carth

I can go chop a few tree branches and start a fire that will boil 60 kettles of water . . . and keep my feet warm too . . at considerably less cost.


The more trees I chop down, the more kettles I can boil . .. progress

Run out of trees - no progress (or heat…).

[Carth]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Run out of trees - no progress (or heat…).

Depends how many trees there are, and how many are using them to boil kettles

Originally Posted by Carth

Depends how many trees there are, and how many are using them to boil kettles

Not really - trees are a finite resource (like oil and gas) whilst fusion fuel can be nearly inexhaustible.

Buggy whips aren’t a major industry anymore, either…

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Carth

I can go chop a few tree branches and start a fire that will boil 60 kettles of water . . . and keep my feet warm too . . at considerably less cost.


The more trees I chop down, the more kettles I can boil . .. progress

it's a bit misleading. 11MW is actually a lot of power, it's the 5 seconds bit that's the problem.

a wind turbine producing 15MW of power can power 13,000 homes.

[cheekyangus]

Originally Posted by Pierre

it's a bit misleading. 11MW is actually a lot of power, it's the 5 seconds bit that's the problem.

a wind turbine producing 15MW of power can power 13,000 homes.

That's what I was thinking when I read it.

---------- Post added at 15:23 ---------- Previous post was at 15:05 ----------

Apparently it's equivalent of 4 x On-Shore wind turbines.
And they only stopped because the equipment overheated, not because the reaction was unstable.
Source: thread https://twitter.com/arthurturrell/st...03964583415808

[Carth]

Originally Posted by cheekyangus

And they only stopped because the equipment overheated, not because the reaction was unstable.

tsk tsk, obviously using a couple of 80mm fans instead of going the water cooling route . . . which may also boil an extra 2 kettles

Originally Posted by Pierre

it's a bit misleading. 11MW is actually a lot of power, it's the 5 seconds bit that's the problem.

a wind turbine producing 15MW of power can power 13,000 homes.

You also have to convert the fusion "power" into actual electricity, it doesnt come ready made.

Any electricity generation based on generating heat is ultimately going to end up driving a steam turbine.

[idi banashapan]

Originally Posted by Chris

Any electricity generation based on generating heat is ultimately going to end up driving a steam turbine.

A thermoelectric generator doesn't work like that. Whilst it may not be a mainstream way of genetating electricity right now, my point is more that it doesn't drive a steam turbine.