The ITER project
Research into using energy released from nuclear fusion to generate electricity on a commercial basis requires international co-operation between governments and scientists because of the huge costs involved and the level, range and quantity of expertise required.
In Europe much of this work is being carried out at the ITER project (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), the main facility of which is based in southern France.
Research is also been carried out at the JET project (Joint European Torus) based in Culham, Oxfordshire, UK.
The ITER project aims to use hydrogen fusion, controlled by large superconducting magnets, to produce massive heat energy which would drive turbines that would generate electricity 鈥 in a similar way to conventional coal, oil and gas fired power stations.
This would produce power using hydrogen from seawater, a relatively cheap and nearly inexhaustible source of energy.
The process would be free from greenhouse gases, and potentially at low cost, if the technology can be made to work on a large enough scale.
Nuclear Fusion in the ITER reactor
- Nuclear fusion occurs when two nuclei fuse to form a new nucleus, a neutron and energy is released.
- The nuclei of deuterium and tritium are fired into a plasma where extreme temperatures overcome their repulsion and forces them together.
- The fusion releases about four times the energy produced when an atom is split in a conventional nuclear fission reaction.