debris off the “ nuclear fusion breakthrough ” mansion again , because scientist are reporting that another significant step has been reach in attain this futurist technology .
essentially , two PhD physics students at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have found out how to cease your nuclear unification reactor being severely damage by a particular phenomenon . That ’s probably going to be pretty utilitarian to all you atomic fusion scientist .
Research describing the finding has been publish in the journalPhysical Review Letters .
It relate to something calledrunaway electron . To get your unification nuclear reactor up and running , you want to be able to hold up a super - hot plasma inside it . To do this , you postulate extraordinary high air pressure and a temperature of about 150 million degrees .
If something goes incorrect , however , and the fusion process stops , temperatures inside the reactor can drop dramatically . If this happens , runaway electrons – those that still retain the Energy Department from the blood plasma – can abruptly speed up up to in high spirits fastness , eminent enough to destroy the nuclear reactor wall .
“ If they run into the wall of the nuclear reactor , then they could melt part of it , which would cause serious hurt , ” Linnea Hesslow , one of the two physicist , tell IFLScience . “ It ’s predicted that several kilograms of wall material would be melted . You would need to repair the nuclear reactor wall . ”
If your reactor is nice and sound , then this is nothing you need to worry about . But on the off probability something go incorrect , you ’d well be prepared to address with runaway electron .
That ’s where Hesslow and her colleague , Ola Embréus , come in . They have notice that you may slow up runaway negatron by come in weighty ion into the nuclear reactor , in the form of a gas or pellet , to act as “ brakes ” . Neon or argon are said to be honorable examples .
When the runaway electron jar with these ions , which have a high charge in their nuclei , they encounter resistance and lose speeding . After many collision , the f number of the electrons becomes controllable and the fusion reactor can be saved for another mean solar day .
" The interestingness in this work is enormous , ” said Professor Tünde Fülöp , the advisor to the two PhD students , in astatement . “ The knowledge is needed for future tense , turgid - scale experiment and provides hope when it comes to solving difficult problems . We require the work to make a big impact give out forward . ”
This research survey a act of other recent breakthroughs in nuclear merger enquiry . scientist are getting better atcontrolling the plasmaand also perfecting thedesigns for the reactorsthemselves . Perhaps one day soon , we ’ll enjoy the marvelous benefits – such as clean and dependable energy – that nuclear fusion promises .
