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We\u2019re Now 43 Seconds Closer to Limitless Energyaire images – Getty Images<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you\u2019ll learn when you read this story:<\/p>\n
The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Germany has broken the record for plasma duration in a nuclear fusion reactor.<\/p>\n
Fusion reactions were sustained at high performance levels for 43 seconds, which is a major breakthrough in plasma physics.<\/p>\n
Unlike nuclear fission (which involves uranium), nuclear fusion only needs hydrogen ions and produces no toxic waste.<\/p>\n
Nuclear energy as we know it today is generated through fission\u2014the process of splitting atomic nuclei, which produces electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. The problem? Fission also creates radioactive waste as a byproduct of using uranium fuel.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where nuclear fusion<\/a>\u2014or, at least, the promise of it\u2014comes in.<\/p>\n Nuclear fusion is the same process that powers stars, like our Sun<\/a>. Inside a star, hydrogen nuclei slam together under intense pressure and heat, fusing into helium and releasing a huge burst of energy. Scientists have long wanted to recreate fusion on Earth because it could deliver clean, virtually limitless power with no carbon emissions and much less radioactive waste than today\u2019s nuclear plants.<\/p>\n Fusion reactors are still very much in the experimental stage, and scientists mostly focused on developing a kind of reactor called a tokamak<\/a>, which uses magnetic coils to confine plasma in a donut-shaped chamber by generating a magnetic field. But the other serious design contender is called a stellarator<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stellarators are more complex than tokamaks\u2014especially when it comes to their magnetic coils\u2014but they\u2019re also more flexible. They can sustain plasma with less power and have design features that make controlling that plasma easier. The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Germany is one such monster, and it recently smashed a record in … well, atom smashing<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a recent experiment, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics sustained a stable plasma reaction in the Wendelstein 7-X for 43 seconds, reaching the \u201ctriple product<\/a>\u201d performance level that\u2019s required for viable nuclear fusion and achieving the all-time best results for any stellarator.<\/p>\n Maybe 43 seconds doesn\u2019t sound like much, but it\u2019s now the longest plasma duration ever in nuclear fusion, including tokamaks. Previously, the now-defunct JT60U Tokamak in Japan and the JET European Tokamak in the U.K\u2014which boasted triple the plasma volume\u2014held the records for plasma duration.<\/p>\n The triple product measures how close a fusion reactor is to reaching self-sustaining \u2018breakeven\u2019 energy production levels\u2014the point at which a reactor produces more energy than it consumes. The three factors that go into the triple product are the density of ionized particles flowing through hot plasma, the temperature of ions being fused, and energy confinement time (how long it takes for heat to escape plasma that\u2019s not heated again). Longer confinement times mean better insulation.<\/p>\n Unlike fission reactors, which use heavy elements such as uranium, fusion reactors rely on lighter elements (like the hydrogen ions deuterium and tritium<\/a>), which help them avoid creating toxic nuclear<\/a> waste.<\/p>\n The fuel injector for Wendelstein 7-X was created exclusively for this stellarator by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)<\/a>, which has also been instrumental in advancing other types<\/a> of reactors. Several European laboratories\u2014including the Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT) in Spain and Budapest\u2019s HUN-REN Center for Energy Research\u2014contributed to the development of the fuel pellets.<\/p>\n As plasma was heated with microwaves over those record-breaking 43 seconds, the fuel injector provided the stellarator with 90 pellets of frozen hydrogen ions. The microwave heating system used electron cyclotron resonance<\/a>\u2014the most effective method for fusion, which uses electromagnetic waves to heat and ionize plasma to temperatures that (in this case) reached a scorching 30 million degrees Celsius (about 54 million degrees Fahrenheit). Because success depended on balancing heating with pulses of incoming fuel, the pellet injector was programmed with automatic pulse rates, which is an unprecedented move.<\/p>\n