Nuclear fusion's hope - The dream of endless clean energy | DW Documentary

Could nuclear fusion generate an infinite amount of clean energy? In contrast to nuclear fission, nuclear fusion looks favorable when it comes to environmental and safety concerns. Could nuclear fusion be the solution to our environmental problems?

The sun and other stars generate energy. In the sun, a fusion fire burns in a huge ball of plasma. Here, hydrogen nuclei fuse to form helium. This releases a lot of energy. Fusion research is attempting to replicate these processes here on Earth.

This endeavor is being led by the ITER mega-project, an international collaboration worth approximately 20 billion dollars. Some 5,000 people active in science and technology and hailing from all around the globe are working on ITER. Together, they are working on a gigantic puzzle consisting of more than a million components. Research into nuclear fusion has been ongoing for decades. But so far, it has proven incredibly difficult to carry out nuclear fusion on a scale that ultimately produces more energy than is needed to initiate fusion.

In the sun, heat and pressure force the fusion of atomic nuclei. On Earth, there are two methods for this: magnetic and laser fusion. Along with a major German project, W-7X, a new wave of start-ups are vying to be the first to produce clean, inexhaustible energy.

The film explains how nuclear fusion works and what role it could play in the European energy landscape, the challenges involved, the difference between fission and fusion and whether this just might be the solution to humanity's hunger for energy.

#documentary #dwdocumentary #energy #cleanenergy #nuclear
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[YoutubeBorkedMyOldHandle_why]

I find it ironic that one of the most difficult, challenging and expensive feats that humankind has ever attempted, is also the very first thing that Nature ever did.

[mrnarason]

Wish the documentary touched on why nuclear fusion is not here already and exact technical difficulties

[jeff]

the iter youtube channel is fun to watch as it all comes together. thanks to everyone making this achievement possible.

[spacetechtips]

Quick synopsis: Various people saying fusion is hard and expensive for 42 minutes. Very few technical insights on the technology provided.

[yongjudejam]

I'm kindly happy for the multinationals working at the site, let's all keep our difference aside and work together for the prosperity of mankind

[safshannon]

Ignore the naysayers. This is important work that is making progress

[Greenwood_NZL]

One step closer to Type 1. This is the right way to make history.

[MeetThaNewDealer]

Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of alternative energy.

[i_am_the_monkey_king]

Despite having such a remarkable machinery, the way they extract energy is still by heating water and using steam to turn a turbine. It's like having the freaking Tesseract light a fire so we can have a tiny light.

[drottercat]

Another fusion vid that finds it necessary to explain that fusion is not the same thing as fission. And I was hoping for news of a breakthrough that would bring commercial fusion power sooner.

[evilpanky]

@kovy689 I'll go point by point:
- "It takes far, far more energy to purify deuterium or tritium enough to make the fusion reaction than fusion produces": False. Deuterium exists in seawater (1/10, 000 water molecules) and can be extracted efficiently with chemical exchange and electrolysis. Tritium is bred in the reactor from Lithium-6 (exothermic) or Lithium-7 (endothermic). The energy balance is massively in favour of fusion.
- "Stabilisation can't be achieve". False. Stable, continuous plasmas have already been achieved. Countermeasures are already developed for edge-localised modes, runaway electron beams and other disruption events. Machine learning has even been used to predict plasma behaviour on a per-machine basis.
- "Technical problem of sustaining the reaction once initiated, which takes more energy than can be recovered from the process." False. This has been a condition for our small experimental machines, but will not be so for a commercial power plant. 20% of the fusion reaction's energy is in the form of an energetic charged particle (helium nucleus). Because it's charged, it stays in the plasma and heats it. With a high enough Q, you can achieve a self-heating ("ignited") plasma where these charged particles sustain the heat required for fusion. In principle, you could turn off external heat sources if you wanted, although to make control easier, you may just want to keep the plasma close to the point of self-heating.
- "Harsh conditions of a reactor to contain such a process, which is orders of magnitude more destructive than any material or technology Physics believes possible.". False. While it's true no material can handle 6, 000degC, they don't need to. Particles from the plasma lose their energy via Bremsstrahlung radiation as they impinge on gas near the walls, resulting in 1-5MW/m2, which is manageable. In the divertor, you can get up to 20MW/m2, and for this, you can use liquid metal armour.

Everything @bartroberts1514 said about fusion was objectively false. Poster either knows nothing, or has an incentive to deceive you.

[maggotman]

The concept of fusion power was big in the 1970s. Right around the corner! Not much has changed in 50 years.

[farmoboy]

endless energy would be amazing for our endless greed and consumption. The planet was not made for nothing eternal. we will only live at peace when we realize growth is not forever and the only option is the balance between what we burn vs what the planet is able to renew.

[ai]

I wish these folks the best of luck on these projects. I fear we started the development of these technologies several hundred years late. I sure hope I'm wrong.

[harryjones]

i love the way at the end of that utterly enthralling and overwhelming explanation and visualisation, his voice tails off as he reaches the admission it all goes to power a good ol-fashioned steam engine

[sigataros]

Meanwhile nuclear energy is still here and not being used

[aliancemd]

I enjoyed A Lot the first half of this video. The second part not as much, especially where it starts talking about specific companies and just random business talk…

[timtruett]

Stephen O Dean has written a history of fusion, available from Springer Verlag, which you may find helpful. It waswritten for people who are wondering about that exact question.

[elijahjosephthomas]

I feel the private sector isn't financing fusion because they know it's not feasible.
Now the fusion enthusiasts are trying to get government funding, which includes bringing the public on board.
I really wish it wasn't the case but most of what they talked about in the video sounded like a public relations stunt.

[davidvhoustonmobile]

Only three mentions of tritium, and no discussion whatsoever of the difficulty of breeding enough tritium to keep the machine running.