The Rodas project is part of the Spanish contribution to the search for nuclear fusion. The Energy, Environmental and Technological Research Center (CIEMAT) leads a consortium of Spanish companies and research centers to develop advanced manufacturing technologies for the Production of critical components for nuclear fusion reactors. If expectations are met, they could begin to be built from 2050.
Those responsible for the Rodas project indicate their advantages: it is A high performance and very clean energy source. “The nuclear fusion is presented as one of the most promising solutions for the future, thanks to their safety and the practically inexhaustible availability of resources,” says Nerea Ordás, director of additive manufacturing of the CEIT Technology Center, created by initiative of the University of Navarra, and part of the consortium.
Input, it is convenient Do not confuse nuclear fusion with nuclear fission. The latter is the one used by the current nuclear plants, a procedure that is expensive, implies safety risks (Chernobil, Harrisburg …) and generates radioactive waste. The merger is instead, as a physique said, “Build the sun in a box” and, in theory, a clean and unlimited energy source.
Both fission and nuclear fusion release the energy stored in the nucleus of an atom. Fission is the separation of a heavy nucleus in smaller nuclei, while nuclear fusion is the Combination of light nuclei to create a larger and heavy one.
The fusion, which until recently was only a theoretical possibility, replicates the processes of stars that, like the sun, are able to generate huge amounts of heat and light. So that you can create low emissions energy, without producing direct radioactive waste. In addition, it does not need a non -renewable fuel and as scarce as uranium.
Get a net energy gain
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two light atomic nuclei, such as hydrogen, combine to form a heavier nucleus, such as helium. This process releases a huge amount of energy and occurs at high temperatures. However, the merger is much more difficult to initiate than fission.
From the theory, the scientists of the Livermore laboratory, in California (USA) are being able to practice in December 2022. They achieved by First time a nuclear fusion with net energy gainThat is, produce more energy than used in the fusion reaction.
Your experiment It generated about 2.4 megajultos (MJ) of energy with 2.1 mj employees with the fusion of a small cylinder full of hydrogen. Then, in July 2023, the Laboratory of the National Ignition Installation of the US (NIF) reached a production of more than 3.5 MJ. But we are far. To get an idea, with that energy we could barely use a iron for an hour or boil several liters of water.
35 United Nations by the iter
World efforts converge in Europe; in it Iter, the international experimental thermal reactorwhich as a Latin word means “the way.” It has been designed as the key experimental step between the current merger research facilities and the fusion energy plants of tomorrow.
World efforts, and especially in Europe, converge on the Iter, the international experimental thermal reactorwhich as a Latin word means “the way.” Has been designed as the step between current fusion research facilities and the fusion energy plants of tomorrow.
It was launched in 1985 and is one of the most ambitious energy projects in today’s world. 35 nations –China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the US– They are involved in this scientific experiment led by the EU. Iter members participate in a collaboration of at least 35 years.
But they will have been more years, because The iter does not start. The date of 2025 was ruled out last year, when the address announced that the first tests with Plasma will not occur until at least 2035. It is, as a study published by Scientific Americanthe most postponed scientific project and with the highest cost overruns in history. The cost was estimated at approximately 4,570 million euros, but it is estimated that About 18,000 million have already been spent.
The iter is being built in Cadarache (France) and is managed by EUratom, EU institution. There we try to produce a fusion plasma that has ten times more thermal power than the power necessary to heat the plasma. It is sought Build the world’s biggest tokamak (The calendar said that this 2025 should be achieved).
Tokamak is an acronym of the Russian that means Toroidal Chamber with magnetic coils. It is a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to demonstrate the viability of fusion as a large -scale energy source and carbon free. Thousands of engineers and scientists have contributed to Iter’s design, which “is crucial to advance in the science of merger and prepare the way for tomorrow’s fusion energy plants.”
From iter to demo, passing through Granada
This is what the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility – Demo Oriented Neutron Source (Ifmif-dones), a research infrastructure to test, validate and qualify the materials that will be used in future fusion energy plants. All this will be used to build demo, a prototype of the demonstration fusion reactor and successor of Iter. With that transition, the fusion will go from laboratory exercise to the program promoted by industry and technology.
For him IFMIF-DONES Granada is prepared. In lift, in the metropolitan area of the Andalusian city, A particle accelerator is already being built. It will be a unique scientific infrastructure that will have an impact of around 4,000 million euros with the generation of 1,000 positions both direct and indirect, according to a report by the University of Granada.
The first merger center in the United Kingdom?
Another project has taken place in the United Kingdom since the late 1970s: The Joint European Torus reactor (Jet), In Culham (Oxfordshire). Mainly funded by EUratom of the EU, the JET has worked in connection with other devices that are part of the program of Eurofusion (European Consortium for the development of merger energy that unites the EU with Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom). They are Asdex Upgrade (Germany), Mast Upgrade (United Kingdom), TCV (Switzerland) and West.
After 40 years of operation, in December 2023, the JET ended its experiments. In his last test, the reactor produced a record amount of energy. The reconversion of the reactor is expected to have been about 12 years, with the aim of reusing as much as possible of the machine.
The British government plan was to build in Nottinghamshire the first fusion center in the world, Inform BBC News. The purpose is that Start working in the 2040s. For this, the spherical tokamak for energy production (STEP) must be lifted.
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