ECOCLUB — On December 5th, 2022, the Livermore Laboratory and National Ignition Facility in the United States created 3 million joules of energy from around 2 million joules of energy via nuclear fusion. The energy output was more than double their previous achievement, dating back to August 2021. The heat from this process was so intense, it could be as warm as 5,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit. This is quite a phenomenal breakthrough, but what could this foretell regarding green energy?
Livermore Laboratory National Laboratory (Image via Damien Jemison, National Geographic).
Edited by Maria Mathai, The Viking View Editor.
Before we dive into nuclear fusion, we should differentiate it from nuclear fission. Nuclear fission splits atoms apart, while nuclear fusion fuses them together. Nuclear fission is also considered a nonrenewable source of energy, due to the fact that it uses uranium and plutonium, which do not replenish themselves in a short amount of time. It also produces radioactive waste, which is a very dangerous material whose effects linger for extended periods of time. This radiation produced is harmful to humans; it destroys DNA and can lead to cancer.
However, nuclear fusion is renewable, does not produce radioactive waste, and creates more energy, which makes it much more preferable as an energy source. Another benefit of nuclear fusion is that it is safer than nuclear fission. Because the environment required to fuse atoms is so exact, fusing will not happen if there is a mistake. This prevents the occurrences of nuclear fusion going wrong, and causing mayhem or harm.
As explained before, nuclear fusion is fusing atoms together using extreme heat. The atoms fused are deuterium and tritium, which are isotopes of hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe. Almost two hundred lasers are shot into a gold cylinder, where they are absorbed, then released as X-rays. The X-rays then warm and compact the fuel (deuterium and tritium) at temperature 10 times that of the core of the Sun, causing nuclear fusion to occur. When the temperature and pressure are high enough, the two atoms are forced together into a helium atom and a neutron, releasing energy in the process. This process also naturally occurs in all stars, including the Sun. Nuclear fusion produces a lot of energy, the energy created from 1 kilogram of fused hydrogen is almost equivalent to burning 4 million kilograms of coal.
Nuclear Fusion Visualisation (Image via National Geographic)
Nuclear fusion is truly amazing, and has colossal potential, but there are still a few challenges to persevere through before the day this energy can be widely accessible. Currently, though more energy was created than put in, almost 300 million joules of energy are needed to power the lasers. The energy from the lasers are also not always directed at the pellet of deuterium and tritium, which lowers the efficiency of this process. Tritium is also difficult to find and rare. The whole procedure of creating this energy is very costly at the moment, and requires extreme conditions to occur. Though this makes nuclear fusion safer, it can result in wasted energy and money, as well as making it more difficult for other countries to begin to use nuclear fusion as an energy source.
However, if more research is done and we do manage to harness the power of nuclear fusion at an affordable cost, we could have a nearly unlimited energy source. It would result in a phenomenal difference in the field of sustainability, because currently the clean energy we use either requires special weather conditions, or has its own negative impacts. For example, despite how clean wind energy is, it can harm wildlife, such as birds and bats who collide with turbines. Scientists are actively trying to lower the cost and energy loss in nuclear fusion.
Though it may be decades before we can all have access to nuclear fusion electricity, scientists are working hard to make it as efficient and affordable as they can. In the meantime, we can all be looking forward to the future accomplishments of this possible clean source of energy.