2 E = mc

Nuclear fusion energy for electricity, how can we get involved..

By Dr Abu Bakar Mhd Ghazali (UNITEN) Dr Abd Aziz Mohamed (ANM) and Dr Faridah M Idris (ANM)

Contents
Intro. & objective Background & history Theory Technologies small, medium and large scales Future How we can get involved Conclusion

Introduction:
Research on fusion energy with Slogans: Small sun on earth Energy of the future Sun in a bottle Energy from water Facts*: 144 ppm Deuterium in water; 233 gigatonnes of Tritium in sea water.
(*Prof Kikuchi lecture at UM, 2009)

French physicist Sbastien Balibar, director of research at the CNRS, said, "We say that we will put the sun into a box. The idea is pretty. The problem is, we don't know how to make the box"

Objective:
To generate electricity from nuclear fusion energy.

Energy absorbed from these neutrons is extracted and passed into the primary coolant to power the turbine in the electric generating plant. The heat produced from the nuclear fusion such as the X-ray implosion and the neutron energies has to be properly channeled to a turbine generator of the power generating plant to produce electricity.

Background and History:

Albert Einstein: ENERGY = E = m c2 m = change of mass, c = speed of light = 300,000 km/s History on Nuclear bombs (uncontrolled process) a. Nuclear fission 236U 92Kr + 142Ba + 2n eg. 235U + n + ENERGY (202.5 MeV)
(A kilogram of Uranium-235 = 3 million x the energy of a kilogram of coal)

b. Nuclear fusion, since the 1950s. eg. 2H + 3H 4He + n + 17.6 MeV. Required energy to ignite the fusion is 10 KeV (= ~ 120 Million Kelvin).

Fission

Fusion

1945: Little Boy at Hiroshima (15 kiloton TNT)

1961: Tzar Bomba (57,000 kiloton TNT) by Soviet at Novaya Zamlya Islands Fat Man, Nagasaki (21 kiloton TNT)

Weight: 27 tonnes

Theory:

Problem: to get the nuclei close enough to fuse, ~ 10-11 m. Requires: to heat these nuclei to 10 keV 120 million kelvins. Containment vessels melt and explode at these temperatures, and therefore the plasma has to be floating i.e. kept away from the walls, such as using magnetic confinement.
< 10-11 m for nuclear force is greater than electrostatic (Coulomb) force.

Physics at 10-11m

Technologies:
Technology development of fusion power
-1st commercial fission reactor : Russia 5 MWe, 1954 Now: ~ 500 plants in operation (2nd & 3rd generations). - Controlled thermonuclear fusion? R&D started in 1950s - Use magnetic (tokamak) and inertial (eg. NIF, USA) confinements. - Has been 6 decades of research, but not yet available commercially! Why? -Fusion phenomena not well known (especially for Q >1, continuous). (although Simulation software is available (e.g. GENE code). - Small fusion devices work for a flash of second only (~100 nS) - Real case: for continuous running of fusion reactor. -Tedious engineering difficulties. We have to contain the plasma at 120,000,000oC for long period of time!
Lawson criterion - For the self-sustaining reactions, the Q value should be greater than 5, meaning that more fusion energy releases as compared to the amount of energy needed to heat up its plasma to the required temperatures.

How Hydrogen explodes .

Fig. 3: Foam plasma mechanism firing sequence in TellerUlam design: A. Warhead before firing; primary (fission bomb) at top, secondary (fusion fuel) at bottom, all suspended in polystyrene foam. B. High-explosive fires in primary, compressing plutonium core into supercriticality and beginning a fission reaction. C. Fission primary emits X-rays which are scattered along the inside of the casing, irradiating the polystyrene foam. D. Polystyrene foam becomes plasma, compressing secondary, and plutonium sparkplug begins to fission. E. Compressed and heated, lithium-6 deutheride fuel produces tritium and begins the fusion reaction. The neutron flux produced causes the U-238 tamper to fission. A fireball starts to form.
Note: 1. Fusion/fision= 97/3 2. Tzar Bomber, 1961. Weight 27 tonnes, Energy 56 Megatons

Energy density: Fusion reactions >> nuclear fission

Required Fuel for 1000 MWe of 1 year operation

Coal Fuel oil- Diesel Solar Nuclear fission Nuclear fusion 2,000,000 tons 1,960,000,000 gallons 100 km2 photovoltaic @ 10% eff. 30 tons Uranium 0.6 tons 2H + 3H International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), France 840 m3

ITER: 0.5g D+T -- estimated 500 MWt for 1000 sec. Plasma current 12 MA, The fusion reaction rate vs. temperature Toroidal field 9T, Q = 50 max.
*Water 144 ppm Deuterium (2H = D) Sea-water 233 Gigatons Tritium (3H = T) *Prof Kikuchi, JAEA note.

Fusion offers:
No carbon emission, no air pollution, unlimited fuel, intrinsically safe.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA - US$ 4 billion, completed 2010.
NIF's basic layout. The laser pulse is generated in the room just right of center, and is sent into the beamlines (blue) moving into the amplifiers at the top (purple). After several passes through the amplifiers the light is cleaned up in the filters (blue) and sent into the "switchyard" (red) where it is aimed into the target chamber (silver). Three football fields could fit inside NIF. - 192 uv laser beams fire at the same time from all directions with total energy of 1.43 MJ, produces ~ 6 x 1014 neutrons.- new world record! (2011)

MIT Claim: Fusion makes major step forward studies of the plasma edge (November 8, 2010).
JET, Japan (3.45 T 38 MW)

10 MW sustained for 0.5 s in 1997 MIT Alcator C-Mod (2010) (4T, Plasma current 0.4 - 2 MA)

Main problems: - To improve plasma turbulence - Impurities when plasma touching the containers wall. Note: Plasmas do not escape under high magnetic fields.

KSTAR, Korea (3.5T 14 MW), Fully superconducting magnet.

28.6 s with fusion gain Q =1.25 in 2006 World record!

KAZAKHSTAN TOKAMAK FOR MATERIAL TESTING (KTM), NATIONAL NUCLEAR CENTER

Majority of measurements are in nS ranges. So, Control and Data Acquisition System (C&DAS), sensors and cameras have to be very2 fast!

What is Plasma? It is not solid, liquid or gas but the fourth state of the matter that is an ionized gas of which a nucleus and an electron are separated. 99% of the universe is composed of plasma. A lightening and an aurora, or everyday gadget like a fluorescent lamp and a neon sign are all made up of plasma. Example of Small Fusion Device : Dense Plasma focus (DPF)

sheath of plasma current

1. D-D fuel cycle:

1. 2H + 2H 3T
3He

+ 1H

requires 15 keV total

+n From Focus Fusion Society: 14N + n (0.2%), i.e. direct conversion into electricity 2. p + 11B 34He & 4He + 11B + 2.4 MeV requires ion energies above 100 keV (equivalent to 1.1 billion K)

Small Fusion Devices

Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) One of research tool that produces initial parameters relevant to the larger scale of fusion devices. Biggest DPF (1 MJ)

SMALL SCALE DPF DEVICES ANM DPF

33 uF 10 15 kV 3.375 J Ar, D2 Single shot ~105 shots ANM, Bangi 2007

X-ray exists during duscharge

Fusor fusion
The inner one being charged negatively with respect to the outer one (to about 80 kV). Once the ions enter the region between the electrodes, they are accelerated towards the center. The ions are accelerated to several keV by the electrodes. Temperature can reach 45 Megakelvins at the centre for potential different of 4 KV. FarnsworthHirsch fusor during operation in so called "star mode" characterized by "rays" of glowing plasma which appear to emanate from the gaps in the inner grid Photo also shows two concentric spherical electrodes.

Spin-off Plasma focus and Fusor: As a pulse neutron generator (neutron radiography) and x-ray Source.

How we can get involved:

Realization of Fusion Energy is not far: ITER 2020, DEMO 1st commercial plant (2040?) Plasma focus in Malaysia, e.g. UM, ANM: continue on research & share / discuss at international via IAEA*. IAEA encourages researchers from developing countries to participate in IAEA meetings, establish contact, training/ OJT etc. Joint research at larger scale of nuclear fusion devices KSTAR, JT60, JET, MIT, NIF, etc. PhD students interest in plasma, control & data acquisition system (C&DAS) for plasma control1 , material testing2 etc. UNITEN, ANM, etc. research in theoretical physics, modeling, test/ verify at medium scale fusion devices. ITER apply as a staff?
1Portugal

(ISTTOK), 2Kazakhstan (KTM)

Conclusion:
This field is a frontier of physics and also a most challenge engineering capability (with expected commercial plant in year 2040 (DEMO)). The design know-how on magnetic field, plasma heating, instrumentation and control, cooling, plasma control, etc. It is a proud for Malaysian to get involve in this project. Spin-off from this project. E.g. how to design a very large magnetic flux, > 1 Tesla, is very much significant especially for those involved in R&D to product new specs. of equipment and facility.

Thank you for your attention.

Artist imagination of a black hole Not even light can escape due to very high gravity.