Fusion Reactor to be Sent into Space and More News

Fusion Reactor to be Sent into Space and More News

https://www.newsweek.com/american-military-fusion-reactor-space-avalanche-energy-orbitron-1721359

https://interestingengineering.com/fusion-power-station-mimic-sun-limitless-energy

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Fusion technology is moving ahead, and many firms and world governments are supporting its development and adoption. New reactor designs and lessons learned have been pushing fusion-energy closer to reality. Green-energy sources are essential for our future and we need to keep going towards the goal.

Fusion is a future technology in which two small nuclei are pushed together to create larger nuclei. Typically, hydrogen fuel is contained in a magnetic field, and hydrogen fuses into helium. The technology is based on the Sun’s energy production engine, and it the opposite of fission power, which breaks a larger nucleus into two smaller nuclei. The prototype of nuclear fusion reactors has been the Tokamak, a large structure with a chamber that holds hydrogen plasma in a strong-magnetic field and uses the heat generated. The next generation may be a small rector being developed by Avalanche Energy called an “Orbitron”.

Avalanche Energy is looking to trial its small Orbitron fusion reactor uses a small chamber, and relies upon interactions between plasma ions to create energy. The Orbitron will be trialed as a spaceship power source, and the U.S. Government has offered incentives to private companies to develop such energy sources. The company hopes to send their reactor into space within 5-years for a trial on a spaceship.

In other fusion-energy news, large experimental fusion plants are getting ready for trial in Europe. The Tokamak DEMO Unit is going into the design phase, and is taking the lessons learned from previous experiments into account. ITER, the premier nuclear-fusion experimental plant in Europe has been a place of learning regarding nuclear fusion, and is providing information for next-generation design. Recent discoveries about the amount of fuel a Tokamak unit can hold have enabled new design efficiencies and energy potential.

As a fan of and believer in green-energy, fusion power is extremely interesting. Fusion and artificial chlorophyll reactors that produce clean-burning fuels are promising for our future. As we approach 10-billion people on Earth, we need an abundant and clean source of power that does not pollute our planet further. Fission power is interesting and viable, but the low and high-level radioactive waste is problematic.

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