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Inertial Confinement Fusion
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18055 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1990 |
2,751 Words |
| Author
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S.A. Stephenson
S.A. Stephenson is a writer living in Livermore, California.
She was the public information officer for the Lawrence
Livermore inertial confinement fusion program from 1981 to
1989. |
Fusion powers our own sun and the stars of the universe. Fusion is also the source of the hydrogen bomb's awesome power. Yet fusion also promises to become a preferred source of energy for future generations.
In labs around the world, technology for investing tiny fuel pellets with so much energy that they literally implode, momentarily mimicking the compressive forces and temperatures of the sun. By effectively harnessing the energies released through this process, researchers hope to provide humanity with an abundant, safe, and environmentally attractive form of energy.
While more advances must be made before the first inertial fusion reactor is providing electric power, some researchers believe that they understand enough science and engineering today to build an engineering test reactor by the year 2010, that a prototype commercial fusion power plant can be operational by the year 2020, and that fusion can provide a major fraction of the world's energy by the year 2050. (They are quick to add that adequate funding is necessary in order to achieve these goals in this rapid time frame.)
"This scenario depends on world events," said Erick Storm, deputy associate director of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California. "It will come about as soon as there is a need for it, and not any sooner."
And the need may be more imminent than we suspect. While long-term predictions are inherently uncertain, world population continues to rise, and with it energy demands inevitably increase. Given a few simple assumption, experts predict that electrical energy demands will exceed supply in 50 years, unless alternative and advanced energy sources after developed. "Fusion can be a part of the world's long-term energy solution," said Storm. “It is scientifically feasible to ignite a fusion flame in the laboratory. We are simply lacking the political will and public sense of urgency to capitalize on these advances."
How Fusion Works
The nucleus of the atom is a powerhouse of energy that can be tapped through two fundamentally different nuclear processes - division, called fission, or union, called fusion. Current nuclear power is provided by fission, the splitting apart of the nuclei of heavy elements (uranium or plutonium) in a way that releases energy.
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