Fusion Reactor Sets New Endurance Record

!splut writes "Fusion fans out there will be interested to know that an experimental French fusion reactor has set a new duration record of 210 seconds. Most fusion reactor research works (or tries to) by containing and compressing a quantity of plasma via an electomagnetic field in a toroidial chamber. Fusion energy could potentially provide a a clean, efficient, and virtually inexhaustible source of energy, but fusion reactoins have proven difficult to contain and control, so this is a significant achievement."

Comments

Efficiency vs. Sustainability

[SkipToMyLou]

What needs to be understood is that they've managed to use a fusion generator to generate electricity. However, they've never managed to create electricity in a useful fashion.

As it stands, they can create an efficient reactor that is not self-sustaining or a self-sustaining reactor that is not efficient. In other words, the former uses very little outside power, but isn't stable and ceases to function. The latter is more stable, but uses more fuel than conventional means.

Fusion power is not a pipe dream. Just as conventional power reactors have been improved over time to produce electricity more efficiently, so will fusion reactors eventually be improved to the point where they're useful. Will it be in the next decade? It may well be, but regardless of when it will happen, it will happen.

Re:Previous record?

[sl956]

The article doesn't say. What was the previous record?

The same french tokamak (Tore Supra) had set the previous record of 120 seconds in 1996.
The figures on this page (in french) shows that the reactor produced 2MW during most of that 1996 experiment. That is 2MW of *excess* power for such a small experimental reactor!!!

Re:Self Powering

[Mt._Honkey]

Would the system be able to generate enough energy to control itself, and have excess power to give away?

The easy answer is "Yes". Fusion reactions create an amazing amount of energy

The real answer is "No, not so far"

The origional poster was correct, a huge amount of energy is used to initiate/control this reaction. Fusion reactions do release (not create) an amazing amount of energy, but so far we have had to use an even more amazing amount of energy to control it. We are getting closer and closer to breaking through the efficiency barrier, and I don't doubt that we will someday. It's just going to damn slow.

Well, we have been able to get a massive payback in terms of energy release. It's called a hydrogen bomb. A conventional fission bomb is detonated right up against a bunch of hydrogen isotopes, quickly achiving the tempuature and pressure necessary in order to fuse.

BOOM