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Could a Helium-Resistant Material Usher In an Age of Nuclear Fusion? (sciencealert.com)
Researchers working with a team at the Los Alamos National Lab tested a new way to build material for nuclear fusion reactors, "and found that it could eliminate one of the obstacles preventing humanity from harnessing the power of fusion energy." schwit1 quotes Science Alert:
A collaboration of engineers and researchers has found a way to prevent helium, a byproduct of the fusion reaction, from weakening nuclear fusion reactors. The secret is in building the reactors using nanocomposite solids that create channels through which the helium can escape... Not only does the fusion process expose reactors to extreme pressure and temperatures, helium -- the byproduct of fusion between hydrogen atoms -- adds to the strain placed on reactors by bubbling out into the materials and eventually weakening them...
In a study published in the journal Science Advances, the researchers overview how they tested the behavior of helium in nanocomposite solids, materials made from thick metal layer stacks. They found that the helium didn't form bubbles in these nanocomposite solids like it did in traditionally used materials. Instead, it formed long, vein-like tunnels. "We were blown away by what we saw," said Demkowicz. "As you put more and more helium inside these nanocomposites, rather than destroying the material, the veins actually start to interconnect, resulting in kind of a vascular system."
The article points out that nuclear fusion generates four times the energy of nuclear fission.
In a study published in the journal Science Advances, the researchers overview how they tested the behavior of helium in nanocomposite solids, materials made from thick metal layer stacks. They found that the helium didn't form bubbles in these nanocomposite solids like it did in traditionally used materials. Instead, it formed long, vein-like tunnels. "We were blown away by what we saw," said Demkowicz. "As you put more and more helium inside these nanocomposites, rather than destroying the material, the veins actually start to interconnect, resulting in kind of a vascular system."
The article points out that nuclear fusion generates four times the energy of nuclear fission.
This is an interesting development in materials science, but helium diffusion weakening of containment vessels is pretty far down the list of critical problems standing in the way of producing commercial energy from fusion any time this century.
The key obstacle, even more important than the fact that no power producing fusion reactors have yet been built, nor are likely to be in the next 30 years, is that they will not be able to compete with other sources of electricity. Fusion power is going to be much more capital intensive than fission power plants that already have trouble competing with other sources of electricity due to their construction costs. No new material for a container wall is going to fix this.
Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
Makes no sense. Fission ~ 200 mega-electron-volts/per, fusion ~ 16 mega-electron-volts per.
Maybe per gram?
See my handle. Guess what I do all day?
While some here talk about "many approaches have been tested" it's really not true - the huge majority - way over 90% - of the money is tokomak, the others can go pound sand, which means only the dedicated and independently wealthy can work with them. As mentioned elsewhere, no matter the approach, this isn't what is holding fusion back. Nor is it necessarily more capex - till we have it making gain, we don't know which approach works and therefore don't have a clue about costs. Making assumptions often makes you wrong.
I saw this paper in the puff-sheet science news. It's the usual "I found something the sources of funding might be bullshitted about so give me more money" that we see all day every day in just about every field. Most of us know to ignore that junk.
Why guess when you can know? Measure!