Nuclear Fusion Articles Based on Papers Presented at the 21st IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, Chengdu, 2006

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 049901
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy

scholarly journals From natural to artificial photosynthesis

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (81) ◽  
pp. 20120984 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Barber ◽  
Phong D. Tran
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Nuclear Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Chemical Bonds ◽  
Natural Photosynthesis

Demand for energy is projected to increase at least twofold by mid-century relative to the present global consumption because of predicted population and economic growth. This demand could be met, in principle, from fossil energy resources, particularly coal. However, the cumulative nature of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions demands that stabilizing the atmospheric CO 2 levels to just twice their pre-anthropogenic values by mid-century will be extremely challenging, requiring invention, development and deployment of schemes for carbon-neutral energy production on a scale commensurate with, or larger than, the entire present-day energy supply from all sources combined. Among renewable and exploitable energy resources, nuclear fusion energy or solar energy are by far the largest. However, in both cases, technological breakthroughs are required with nuclear fusion being very difficult, if not impossible on the scale required. On the other hand, 1 h of sunlight falling on our planet is equivalent to all the energy consumed by humans in an entire year. If solar energy is to be a major primary energy source, then it must be stored and despatched on demand to the end user. An especially attractive approach is to store solar energy in the form of chemical bonds as occurs in natural photosynthesis. However, a technology is needed which has a year-round average conversion efficiency significantly higher than currently available by natural photosynthesis so as to reduce land-area requirements and to be independent of food production. Therefore, the scientific challenge is to construct an ‘artificial leaf’ able to efficiently capture and convert solar energy and then store it in the form of chemical bonds of a high-energy density fuel such as hydrogen while at the same time producing oxygen from water. Realistically, the efficiency target for such a technology must be 10 per cent or better. Here, we review the molecular details of the energy capturing reactions of natural photosynthesis, particularly the water-splitting reaction of photosystem II and the hydrogen-generating reaction of hydrogenases. We then follow on to describe how these two reactions are being mimicked in physico-chemical-based catalytic or electrocatalytic systems with the challenge of creating a large-scale robust and efficient artificial leaf technology.

scholarly journals CURRENT STATUS OF NUCLEAR FUSION ENERGY RESEARCH IN KOREA

2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
My-Eun Kwon ◽  
Young-Soon Bae ◽  
Seung-Yon Cho ◽  
Won-Ho Choe ◽  
Bong-Geun Hong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Energy Research ◽  
Fusion Energy Research

scholarly journals The Holy Grail of energy? A content and thematic analysis of the presentation of nuclear fusion on the Internet

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (04) ◽  
pp. A01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Oltra ◽  
Ana Delicado ◽  
Ana Prades ◽  
Sergio Pereira ◽  
Luisa Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Nuclear Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Technical Information ◽  
Nuclear Fission ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Web Documents ◽  
The Web

The Internet is increasingly considered as a legitimate source of information on scientific and technological topics. Lay individuals are increasingly using Internet sources to find information about new technological developments, but scientific communities might have a limited understanding of the nature of this content. In this paper we examine the nature of the content of information about fusion energy on the Internet. By means of a content and thematic analysis of a sample of English-, Spanish- and Portuguese-language web documents, we analyze the structural characteristics of the webs, characterize the presentation of nuclear fusion, and study the associations to nuclear fission and the main benefits and risks associated to fusion technologies in the Web. Our findings indicate that the information about fusion on the Internet is produced by a variety of actors (including private users via blogs), that almost half of the sample provided relevant technical information about nuclear fusion, that the majority of the web documents provided a positive portrayal of fusion energy (as a clean, safe and powerful energy technology), and that nuclear fusion was generally presented as a potential solution to world energy problems, as a key scientific challenge and as a superior alternative to nuclear fission. We discuss the results in terms of the role of Internet in science communication.

scholarly journals Fusion Energy for Peace Building - A Trinity Test-Level Critical Juncture

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elias G. Carayannis ◽  
John Draper ◽  
Bill Bhaneja
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Nuclear Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
Innovation Ecosystem ◽  
Critical Juncture ◽  
Quintuple Helix ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Trinity

This article analyses the development of a ‘burning plasma’ fusion breakthrough, which could trigger a ‘Future Fusion Economy’ around 2040, and its implications for worsening conflicts and for peace-building. To do so, we apply Glenn D. Paige’s (2009) nonkilling global political science (NKGPS) conceptual framework, Carayannis and Campbell’s (2010) quintuple helix innovation ecosystem model, and recent path dependence theory. Nuclear fusion energy’s arrival will be a nearly unprecedented historical event. The closest parallel is the Trinity Test, which heralded the Atomic Age, the implications of which for perpetuating conflict and potentially for peace building were keenly understood at the time. As with fission, fusion energy will be weaponized as it possesses intrinsic benefits compared to fission in terms of safety and cost. However, the innovations that are leading to nuclear fusion energy are not taking place in a vacuum. Unlike the Trinity Test, which was conducted in secret in wartime without civilian or media contributions, fusion energy is being developed in peacetime in the public eye, including civil society, the global media, and social media, i.e., in a quadruple helix innovation ecosystem. Immediately following the Second World War, despite initial progress, the USSR rejected the US Baruch Plan to put atomic energy and weapons under the United Nations to stifle a nuclear arms race, due to an insufficient political imperative to cooperate. The result was the Cold War. However, the much cleaner fusion energy, once developed, can be rapidly applied to address climate change, via the quintuple helix, which incorporates socioecological interactions. As such, a global critical juncture is emerging in which a new normative nuclear order can be created via a ‘new Baruch Plan’, with the IAEA accelerating the development and commercialization of fusion energy, the United Nations working towards a Universal Global Peace Treaty, and humanity re-prioritising its goals.

scholarly journals Clean and Sustainable Fusion Energy for the Future

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 20-42
Author(s):  
Jordan Adelerhof ◽  
Mani Bhushan Thoopal ◽  
Daniel Lee ◽  
Cameron Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
Nuclear Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Energy Output ◽  
Energy Crisis ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Hydroelectric Power ◽  
Temperature Plasma ◽  
Promising Source

Nuclear Fusion energy is one promising source of energy currently in the developmental stages with the potential to solve the world’s energy crisis by providing a clean and almost limitless supply of energy for the entire planet. This meta-study analyses the heating systems, cooling systems, energy output, heating power input, plasma volume, economic impact, plasma temperature, plasma density, plasma confinement time and Lawson’s Triple Product with respect to a variety of different nuclear fusion systems including the Wendelstein 7-X, the Helically Symmetric Stellarator Experiment, the ITER project, Joint European Torus, TFTR, IGNITOR and general information on tokamaks, stellarators as well as magnetic confinement of plasmas. Nuclear fusion is then more generally compared with four non-fusion energy sources, solar energy, wind energy, coal and hydroelectricity in terms of their overall economic impact, energy efficiency and environmental impact. Current global energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas are briefly discussed with focus on their remaining global supply as well as their impact on the environment; this is contrasted with the remaining fuel supplies for nuclear fusion and fusion’s environmental impact. The result of this meta-study was that we found that fusion power is a long term solution to the energy crisis and so more of a focus needs to be placed globally on working to expand the use of hydroelectric power.

Laser nuclear fusion: current status, challenges and prospect

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 729-738
Author(s):  
J. Badziak
Keyword(s):  
Hot Spot ◽  
Nuclear Fusion ◽  
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Thermonuclear Reactor ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Laser Fusion ◽  
Beam Laser

Abstract In 2009, in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA, National Ignition Facility (NIF) - the largest thermonuclear fusion device ever made was launched. Its main part is a multi-beam laser whose energy in nanosecond pulse exceeds 1MJ (106 J). Its task is to compress DT fuel to the density over a few thousand times higher than that of solid-state DT and heat it to 100 millions of K degrees. In this case, the process of fuel compression and heating is realized in an indirect way - laser radiation (in UV range) is converted in the so-called hohlraum (1 cm cylinder with a spherical DT pellet inside) into very intense soft X radiation symmetrically illuminating DT pellet. For the first time ever, the fusion device’s energetic parameters are sufficient for the achieving the ignition and self-sustained burn of thermonuclear fuel on a scale allowing for the generation of energy far bigger than that delivered to the fuel. The main purpose of the current experimental campaign on NIF is bringing about, within the next two-three years, a controlled thermonuclear ‘big bang’ in which the fusion energy will exceed the energy delivered by the laser at least ten times. The expected ‘big bang’ would be the culmination of fifty years of international efforts aiming at demonstrating both physical and technical feasibility of generating, in a controlled way, the energy from nuclear fusion in inertial confined plasma and would pave the way for practical realization of the laser-driven thermonuclear reactor. This paper briefly reviews the basic current concepts of laser fusion and main problems and challenges facing the research community dealing with this field. In particular, the conventional, central hot spot ignition approach to laser fusion is discussed together with the more recent ones - fast ignition, shock ignition and impact ignition fusion. The research projects directed towards building an experimental laser-driven thermonuclear reactor are presented as well

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