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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
The UK’s 40-year-old fusion reactor achieved a world record for energy output in its final runs before being shut down for good, scientists have announced.
The Joint European Torus (JET) in Oxfordshire began operating in 1983. When running, it was temporarily the hottest point in the solar system, reaching 150 million°C.
The reactor’s previous record was a reaction lasting for 5 seconds in 2021, producing 59 megajoules of heat energy. But in its final tests in late 2023, it surpassed this by sustaining a reaction for 5.2 seconds while also reaching 69 megajoules of output, using just 0.2 milligrams of fuel.
[...] JET forged together atoms of deuterium and tritium – two stable isotopes of hydrogen – in plasma to create helium, while also releasing a vast amount of energy. This is the same reaction that powers our sun. It was a type of fusion reactor known as a tokamak, which contains plasma in a donut shape using rings of electromagnets.
Scientists ran the last experiments with deuterium-tritium fuel at JET in October last year and other experiments continued until December. But the machine has now been shut down for good and it is being decommissioned over the next 16 years.
“It’s great that it’s gone out with a little flourish,” says Matthews. “It’s got a noble history. It’s served its time and they’re going to squeeze a bit more information out of it during its decommissioning period as well. So it’s not something to be sad about; it’s something to be celebrated.”
A larger and more modern replacement for JET, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France, is nearing completion and its first experiments are due to start in 2025.
[...] Another reactor using the same design, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device, recently managed to sustain a reaction for 30 seconds at temperatures in excess of 100 million°C.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday February 12 2024, @01:07PM (1 child)
Anyone know why? Its an inconvenient length. Half life of tritium is 12 years and the journalism filter is too good to mess up 12 to 16, but not good enough to notice 16 isn't that many half lives. So they're not saving much from primary contamination. In a century or two essentially all the H3 will be gone but they're in a hurry so only waiting 16 years.
My guess is neutron irradiation causing secondary radiation from "stuff". They probably had to order special low-cobalt steel etc but the whole thing is probably still kind of hot for awhile.
(Score: 3, Informative) by turgid on Monday February 12 2024, @01:44PM
Yes, it's neutron irradiation of the steel vessel.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].