British private nuclear fusion company Tokamak Energy has reached a new milestone, and the temperature of the spherical tokamak ST-40 reactor successfully exceeded 100 million degrees Celsius, crossing one of the thresholds for commercial nuclear fusion .
nuclear fusion technology mainly fuses hydrogen atom into heavier atom under high temperature and high pressure, capturing the huge energy generated by the process. The principle is relatively simple, but the practice is very difficult. It can be said to be an unattainable dream. Over the past 75 years, many nuclear energy scientists have hoped to accelerate the progress of nuclear fusion research, hoping to bring nearly unlimited, clean and huge energy to society, and ultimately change the energy market.
Many state-owned reactors have actually reached high temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius, but in terms of investment amount, the cost of Tokamak Energy ST-40 is only 50 million pounds. Although it is not known how long the ST-40 can last 100 million degrees, it is a great achievement to reach similar milestones at a lower cost.
Among them, the ST-40 reactor is different from the traditional tokamak with a large donut and the stellar imitator that looks like a hair ring. Tokamak Energy adopts a more compact spherical design, claiming that its plasma pressure is higher than that of traditional tokamak equipment, and can use high-temperature superconducting magnets to control the plasma and then convert it into available energy.
ST40 mainly uses high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets made of rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO), forming a narrow band with a thickness of less than 0.1mm. The operating temperature of these high-temperature magnets is between -250 and -200 degrees Celsius, which is similar to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, so it saves a lot of cooling costs.
is just a spherical reactor design. Although the design of the plasma is smaller and simpler, and the plasma is more stable in the nuclear fusion reaction process, compared with traditional tokamak, the total pressure of the reactor is smaller, and the central pillar is easily affected by plasma decay and needs to be replaced regularly. Tokamak Energy is also currently developing a more advanced reactor, ST-HTS, which is expected to be put into use within a few years, hoping to become the cornerstone of the first commercial power plant in the 2030s.
Tokamak Energy CEO Chris Kelsall said we are proud of this breakthrough towards a brand new and safe carbon-free energy source. The team's HTS magnets are paired with spherical tokamaks, which are the best way to achieve clean and low-cost commercial nuclear fusion energy.
(First image source: Tokamak Energy)
