Energia de Fusion

8/2/2019 Energia de Fusion

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ITER, A STEP CLOSER TO REALITY

Energy is the key that move the world. During the last 50 years its consumption

has doubled (EIA, 2011) and it is expected to increase by 70% until 2030 (WETO,2003). However, energy rose is not the only problem, but its consumption on aworld scale will increase CO2 emissions more than double over the 1990-2030period, from 21 to 45 Gt of CO2 (WETO, 2003). These are alarming figures, sinceCO2 emissions are the main contributor to climate change. For more than 200years humanity has depended on fossil fuel and the idea that oil reserves arereaching the peak are no longer predictions. For many years, scientists andgovernments have been working in new energy technologies looking for betteralternatives to tackle resources depletion and global warming. Today, scienceensures that is possible to reproduce the energy of the stars, that just one gram

of fusion fuel has the potential to produce more energy than burning 10 tonnesof coal (MAGPIE, 2008). Fusion energy is the holy grail of the energies. This isbecause fusion-based nuclear power offers the potential for a clean and almostlimitless supply of energy (The Economist, 2008). For over half a centuryscientists have been working towards developing fusion energy, but this isdifficult because of the high temperatures and pressures involved.

Brief History

In order to understand the complexity of this technology a brief history isimportant. In 1905, Einstein provided the first clues on how the Sun works withhis E=mc equation. This simple equation predicted that the conversion of asmall amount of mass could yield a very large amount of energy (ECRI, 2010)However, it was not until 1920 when the chemist Francis William Aston tookprecise measurements of the masses of atoms. Subsequently, an astrophysicistSir Arthiur Eddington recognized the importance of Aston's work, who realisedthat by burning hydrogen into helium, the Sun would release around 0.7 % ofthe mass into energy. In 1939, the physicist Hans Bethe completed the picture

with a quantitative theory explaining the generation of fusion energy in stars(ECRI, 2010).

Several experiments have been conducted, however some unsuccessful as theone in the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge, UK during 1930s (Oliphant,Harteck, & Rutherford, 1934). Later on, an original large-scale experimentalfusion device called ZETA was built in the late 1940s at Harwell in the UK. Thismachine worked from 1954 to 1958 showing initial findings and useful resultsfor later devices (ECRI, 2010). After this successful case, research in fusiontechnology became of interest in France, Germany, the Soviet Union and the

US. In 1958, at the Atoms for Peace conference in Geneva this countries formally


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sealed an agreement to start a truly international collaboration that would intime lead to today's ITER experiment in southern France. In 1968, two RussianTamm and Sakharov constructed the tokamak, a device able to run attemperatures ten times higher than other current experiments. Today, devicesuse it same principle. Ten years later, some other projects were carried out as

the Joint European Torus (JET), the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) in theUSA and the Japanese tokamak JT-60 in 1985. After more than 50 years ofexperiments and disappointments, JET produced for the first time in the worlda significant amount of power 1.7 MW from controlled nuclear fusion, in 1991(ECRI, 2010). Nowadays, there are more than ten nuclear fusion projects aroundthe world (CBS, 2010) trying to reach the holy grail. However, during the visitto the National Grid and according to Paul Cassel fusion processes in the UKconsume more energy than they produce, this is the case of the Culham Centrefor Fusion Energy (CCFE), which is located in Oxfordshire.

Nonetheless, a new project called ITER is being carried out in France.According to Mayte Pascual, ITER is currently the most important scientificproject in the world (Pascual, 2011). ITER is an acronym for the InternationalThermonuclear Experimental Reactor. The scientific goal of ITER is to deliverten times the power it consumes (ITER, 2012).

ITER Design and Technology

In order to understand ITER, is fundamental to comprehend what is fusion.Nuclear fusion is the process by which nuclei of low atomic weight such ashydrogen combine to form nuclei of higher atomic weight such as helium. Twoisotopes of hydrogen, deuterium (composed of a hydrogen nucleus containingone neutrons and one proton) and tritium (a hydrogen nucleus containing twoneutrons and one proton), provide the most energetically favorable fusionreactants. In the fusion process, some of the mass of the original nuclei is lostand transformed to energy in the form of high-energy particles (MAGPIE,2008). The sun and all other stars produce energy through thermonuclear fusionreactions. Therefore, this is the most basic form of energy in the universe.Nevertheless, as previous experiences shown this is extremely complicated torecreate on earth, gases need to be heated to enormously high temperaturesabout 100 millions C to produce a plasma which then needs to be contained fora sufficiently long period for fusion to occur (F4E, 2012)


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Graphic 1. Source ITER

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), that means "theway" in Latin, is a major international experiment with the aim ofdemonstrating the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion as an energy

source (F4E, 2012). ITER aims to produce a significant amount of fusion powerof 500MW for about 7 minutes or 300MW for 50 minutes (F4E, 2012). ITER willallow scientists and engineers to develop the knowledge and technologiesneeded to proceed to a next phase of electricity production through fusionpower stations.

ITER will attempt to recreate the necessary conditions on earth to generateenergy from fusion. This massive device is based on the 'tokamak' concept ofmagnetic confinement, in which the plasma is contained in a doughnut-shapedvacuum vessel (ITER, 2012). The ITER tokamak will measure 24 metres high

and 30 metres wide (F4E, 2012). The fuel, which is a mixture of deuterium andtritium, two isotopes of hydrogenis heated to temperatures in excess of 150millionC, forming a hot plasma. Moreover, strong magnetic fields are used tokeep the plasma away from the walls; these are produced by superconductingcoils surrounding the vessel, and by an electrical current driven through theplasma (ITER, 2012)

Graphic 2. Source ITER


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In fusion processes different isotopes of light elements can be paired to achievefusion. ITER will use the deuterium-tritium (D-T) reaction that has beenidentified as the most efficient for fusion devices. At this point, is important tohighlight that Deuterium can be distilled from all forms of water, is widelyavailable, harmless and virtually inexhaustible resource. For instance, in a litre

of seawater, there are 33 milligrams of deuterium and it is regularly producedfor scientific and industrial applications. On the other hand, tritium is a fast-decaying radioelement of hydrogen which occurs only in trace quantities innature. Tritium can be produced during the fusion reaction through contactwith lithium. Nevertheless, tritium is produced or 'bred' when neutronsescaping the plasma interact with lithium contained in the blanket wall of theTokamak (ITER, 2012). According to the information in the website of ITER, theconcept of breeding tritium within the fusion reaction needs to be taking intoaccount for the future needs of a large scale fusion power plant. A future fusionplant producing large amounts of power will be required to breed all of its owntritium. ITER will test this essential concept of tritium self-sustainment (ITER,2012).

The ITER construction work began in 2010 and is expected to be finished in2019. However, ITER is not the final project, is a fundamental step. After ITERand as part of the same project a Demonstration Power Plant, or DEMO is thenext pace. In addition, a conceptual design for such a machine could be done by2017. If the project succeed, DEMO will lead fusion into its industrial era,beginning operations in the early 2030s, and putting fusion power into the gridas early as 2040 (ITER, 2012). While both are being constructed, complementaryresearch is being carried out around the world in order to support ITER.

Technical and Socio Economical Aspects

As stated before, energy is the major problem of this century, and in order tosustain life on earth any kind of technology that preserve the environmentneeds to be considered and should be open to the benefit of the world andfuture generations. Fusion energy is a dream for humanity and in theory asolution to most of present problems that the world is facing. According toFusion for Energy (F4E) this form of energy presents a number of advantages,described below.

1. Power Stations would be inherently safe, with no possibility ofmeltdown or runaway reactions

2. The basic fuel (sea water) is abundant and available everywhere3. There is no emission of greenhouse gases, including CO2 and its impact

to the environment is very low


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4. There is no high activity nuclear waste that must be considered for thefuture generations

5. Day-to-day-operation of a fusion power station would not require thetransport of radioactive materials

6. Fusion has the potential to fuel the entire the entire world for relativelylow cost compared to todays fuels (Silver, 2008)

At this point is important to emphasize that fusion energy is different fromfission energy which is a current related practice today. Unlike nuclear fission,which generates energy by splitting atoms, nuclear fusion works on theprinciple that energy can be released by forcing together atomic nuclei (PE,2012). Nuclear fission energy has been used successfully over 60 years ago.Moreover, nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and1314% of the world's electricity (WNN, 2010). However, fission nuclear energyhas been demonised for some accidents that includes the Chernobyldisaster (1986), Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), and the Three MileIsland accident in 1979 (Time, 2011). Nowadays, China has 25 nuclear powerreactors under construction, with plans to build many more (WNA, 2010) whilein the US the licenses of almost half its reactors have been extended to 60 years(WNA, 2012) and plans to build another dozen are under serious consideration(The New York Times, 2010) However, Japan's 2011Fukushima Daiichi nucleardisaster provoked a rethink of nuclear energy policy in many countries (Dahl,2011). Beside, economic factors, the main disadvantages of fision energy arewaste disposal and safety. According to William Nutall this waste have beencalled the Archilles Heel of the nuclear industry (Nutall, Pollit, & Jamasb,2006). The world's nuclear fleet creates about 10,000 metric tons of high-levelspent nuclear fuel each year (Sovacool, 2011). Consequently, high-levelradioactive waste requires sophisticated treatment and management tocompletely isolate it from the biosphere. This necessitates treatment, followedby a long-term management strategy involving permanent storage, disposal ortransformation of the waste into a non-toxic form (Ojovan & Lee, 2005), thetimeframes required when dealing with radioactive waste range from 10,000 tomillions of years (APS, 2006).

In contrast to fission energy, fusion energy is totally safe as stated by Energy forFusion, There is very little fuel in the reaction chamber at any given moment(about 1g in a volume of 1000 cubic metres) and if the fuel supply isinterrupted, the reactions only continue for a few seconds. Any malfunction ofthe device would cause the reactor to cool and the reactions would stop (F4E,2012). Moreover, the basic fuels, deuterium, lithium and the reaction producthelium are not radioactive. However, the intermediate fuel, tritium isradioactive, but decays very quickly, producing a very low energy electron,Beta radiation. In air, this electron can only travel a few millimetres and cannot


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even penetrate a piece of paper. Nevertheless, tritium would be harmful if itentered the body, so the facility will have very thorough safety systems andprocedures for the handling and storage of tritium. As the tritium is producedin the reactor chamber itself, there are no issues regarding the transport ofradio-active materials (F4E, 2012). In addition, extensive safety and

environmental studies have led to the conclusion that a fusion reactor could bedesigned in such a way to ensure that any in-plant incident would not requirethe evacuation of the local population (F4E, 2012).

According to ITER and F4E there are not major environmental impacts, arguingthat the fuel consumption of a fusion power station will be extremely low, andthat will not release GHG. For instance, A 1 GW fusion plant will need about100 Kg of deuterium and 3 tons of natural lithium to operate for a whole year,generating about 7 billion kWh, with no greenhouse gas or other pollutingemissions. In contrast to this a coal-fired power plant (without carbonsequestration) requires about 1.5 million tons of fuel and produces about 4-5million tons of CO2 to generate the same amount of energy (F4E, 2012). Theneutrons generated by the fusion reaction cause radioactivity in the materialscontaining the reaction, such as the walls of the container, but a careful choiceof the materials for these components will allow them to be released fromregulatory control and possibly recycled about 100 years after the power plantstops operating (ITER, 2012). For this reason, waste from fusion plants will notbe a threat for future generations.

ITER is an international program that will cost around $10 billion dollars and itis supported for seven big nations that will bear together the costs of it. Thecountries that support ITER are: India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, USA, Chinaand the European Union (ITER, 2012). Therefore, collectively, this representsover one half of the worlds population and a diverse range of economies. Forthe construction of the ITER device, most of the components will be providedby the members, rather than financing them. The EU as host Party willcontribute up to about 50% of the construction costs and the other parties willeach contribute up to 10% (F4E, 2012). According to Fusion for Energy, the costof the project, spread over more than 30 years between the parties, and it ismodest compared to research expenditure in each party. In the European Unionfor example, it is less than the budget for the effort in the renewable energies(ITER, 2012).

On the other hand, fusion energy has some disadvantages. First,fusion can only occur at extremely high temperatures, which make it difficult tocontain, as the French Nobel Laureate in Physics Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, said,"we say that we will put the sun into a box. The idea is pretty. The problem is,we don't know how to make the box." (Kaku, 2008). Second, the energy


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required to make it work could be greater than the output of energy by fusionitself. Finally, and more important current research and experiments are costingand will cost billions of dollars.

The ITER project is not supported for everyone. There are many who argue that

the project confront several technical challenging problems as mentionedbefore, which in theory are solved by ITER. However, a number of fusionresearchers working on non-tokamak systems, such as Robert Bussard and EricLerner, have criticized ITER for diverting funding that they believe could beused for their potentially more reasonable and/or cost effective fusion powerplant designs (Bussard, 2006). Most of criticisms often turn around claims of theunwillingness by ITER researchers to face up to potential problems, bothtechnical and economic (Bussard, 2006). In 2005, GreenpeaceInternational issued a press statement criticizing governments funding ITER.This organisation believes that money should have been invested in renewable

and existing energy sources, like wind energy (Greenpeace International, 2005).Later on, a French Association Sortir du nuclaire (Get Out of Nuclear Energy)and more than 700 anti-nuclear group, claimed that ITER was a hazard becausescientist did not yet know how to manipulate the high-energy deuterium andtritium hydrogen isotopes used in the fusion process (Deutch Welle, 2005). Amember of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms, said: "In the next 50 yearsnuclear fusion will neither tackle climate change nor guarantee the security ofour energy supply". Another, French Green party Nol Mamre claims that isimportant to fight present issues as global warming, and that this could beneglected because of ITER. He stated, "This is not good news for the fightagainst the greenhouse effect because we're going to put ten billion eurostowards a project that has a term of 30-50 years when we're not even sure it willbe effective (EurActiv, 2005).

However, ITER and its supporters have defended constantly the project. Inparticular the allegations of its "inherent danger, explaining that unlike fission,fusion is intrinsic safe. Moreover, scientist of ITER assure that researchers in

Japan guarantee that a fusion generator should be viable in the 2030s and nolater than the 2050s (Hiwatari, Okano, Asaoka, Shinya, & Ogawa, 2005) as

argued by others. Relating to costs only in the US, electricity accounts forUS$210 billion in annual sales (EIA, 1998). Moreover, Asia's electricity sectorattracted US$93 billion in private investment between 1990 and 1998 (EIA,1998). Just using these figures as example, a worldwide investment into ITER ofless than $1 billion per year is not incompatible with current research into othermethods of power, which in 2007 totaled US$16.9 billion (UNEP, 2008). Thisinvestment should be viewed as an attempt to earn future gains for theenvironment, people and economy.


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This nations are committing themselves to solve a global challenge. Togetherthe aim is to find a solution for future energy issues, assuring sustainableenergy resources. However, this is not only about energy security, thistechnology will help to reduce environmental and social impacts, such as,resource depletion, water scarcity, poverty, climate change, energy security.

Besides, harnessing fusion would provide an environmentally friendly andalmost limitless source of energy. This is an expensive project, that will cost atleast $10 billion dollars and as any research project, its success is not guarantee.Moreover, according to ITER if it works we will have to wait at least 20 yearsmore to have energy produced in fusion reactors. This is a long way to go yet,but in my view if the money is not invested now, so when? Many argue that themoney should be spent in renewables technologies, however both must gotogether. Today, renewable energies are feasible and a good option. Althoughthis are not good enough to confront the energy issues and all the indirectconsequences that this entails, and that humanity is facing today. However,who knows if nuclear fusion will become on time to help us to tackling withclimate change roots. Therefore, the economic risks these nations are taking arecompletely justified taking into consideration that is imperative to find realsolutions to sustain life on earth. Personally, I believe that either way thisproject will contribute to the future of fusion energy, so even if the project isunsuccessful any progress will be achieved.

In addition, extensive informational effort must be done in order to reassure thecommunity that this is a different process from fission. The community need tobe aware of fusion advantages. Furthermore, the parties should spread a clearand transparent message to the world and especially to the communitiesdirectly involved in ITER. This could be one of the biggest and usefuldiscoveries of human history. According to Osamuy Motojima ITER GeneralDirector this transparency is essential for both project and community. This isthe only way to make it compatible with the current economic situation. Thisinvestment goes beyond from a political period of four years. Nevertheless, thecurrent crisis, support to the project has not decreased according to CarlosAlejaldre General Director of ITER in Spain.

The project is being constructed in Cadarache Southern France, and accordingto Roger Pizot the Major of Saint Paul Lez Duranze this is a good project and itscommunity is aware of both advantages and disadvantages. Since in Francenuclear fission energy has been used for many years, this is not new for them.They believe that is important to work in a new way of nuclear energy, a safetycontrolled nuclear fusion that will not produce waste for future generations asother projects in France.


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Conclusions

According to the information presented above, ITER and its fusion energytechnology is a sustainable practice. If ITER succeed, it would provide limitlessand clean energy to the world. Besides, current energy technologies that use

non- renewable resources could be replaced for other similar nuclear reactorsdevices. This new technology will save an indefinite amount of GHG releasedto the atmosphere. This will help to tackle climate change, resources depletionand giving people a better quality of life. Looking back to history, there is a bigprobability, that this project does not achieve its aims, but either way it willcontribute with some progress for future generations. Fusion energy is a fact,but more experiments and studies are needed for it development and furtherdeployment. Furthermore, most of its barriers presented above are technical,and it is too complex to conceive. However, beside this and economics factorsthat in my view are fully justified all are advantages. There are uncertainties as

in every project, even more in a project of this magnitude that uses newtechnology.

Additionally, it is forecasted by some scientists that oil reserves may run outeventually. So, the world needs urgently new energy resources. In the long-runterm fusion may be feasible and the best option. However, in the short-term isnecessary to combine efforts in the short-erm investing and developing otherrenewable energies.


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