ITER

The growth in energy consumption has been increasing over the years as the energy revolution unfolded. This growth in energy consumption worldwide makes it necessary to look for other more efficient energy options that help feed all the necessary consumption that will be needed. Since nuclear fusion does not yet exist on an industrial level, series of researching in numerous places for years. The use of said generated by nuclear fusion is one of the objectives and efforts that all researchers are having in order to develop a great energy advantage. For this, there is a program known as ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor).

In this article we are going to tell you what the ITER program consists of and what its main objective is.

What is ITER

ITER reforms

The energy that is generated through the nuclear process known as nuclear fusion can be enormous. When the energy that is generated in the nuclear fusion of light atoms in heavier ones was used, a large amount of efficient energy can be obtained. However, it is something that is not yet developed at an industrial level.

Since the 50s there has been a significant effort in research and development of nuclear fusion because it has a great advantage. And it is that during nuclear fusion a large amount of energy is generated. One of the ingredients necessary for this fusion to take place is deuterium. Deuterium is a fairly abundant hydrogen isotope. For this reason, nuclear fusion is one of the most sought after reactions in the energy field.

ITER is among the international programs that have shown that it is possible to maintain the nuclear fusion process in plasma but that it requires a lot of effort. The objective of this program is to determine the technological and economic viability of nuclear fusion. The method by which this reaction is to be carried out is through magnetic confinement for electrical generation. This serves as a preliminary phase to the construction of a facility that can be used to generate energy through this process.

For more than 50 years, Europe has been the leader in nuclear fusion research. All aspects related to fusion related physics and chemistry research are coordinated through the European Commission. The ITER program is funded through the EURATOM Research Framework Program and national funds from the Member States and Switzerland. One of the advantages of nuclear fusion is its great specific power. And it is that it has a great capacity to be able to generate energy. The problem is that for this nuclear fusion reaction to be fully efficient, temperatures of between 100 and 200 million degrees Celsius are needed. This is something that, today, is almost impossible to achieve.

ITER, Cadarache and Spain

ITER

It was a project that had an initial budget of about 5.000 million euros that could be tripled if the results began to show quickly. The estimated duration of the construction of this project is approximately about 10 years and it is expected to maintain this operation for another 20 years.

ITER is considered the largest scientific energy research project in the world. Its main objective is to show that it is possible to use nuclear fusion as a source of energy. We must remember that nuclear fusion occurs inside the sun and in the stars. In these places the temperatures are very high as well as the pressure. The pressure due to the great force of gravity that exists in the sun causes temperatures to be very high and the nuclear fusion reaction can occur.

Until today it is still a research machine, being more considered an experimental machine. The headquarters of the European Fusion Agency has been housed in Barcelona since 2007, where all the efforts that are needed to carry out nuclear fusion are organized at ITER. There is a totality of more than 180 people working divided between engineers, scientists and administrators. Spain participates in this program through the European Union and its first and main contributions are in the fields of the physics of magnetic confinement.

An attempt is made to improve tritium generation, energy injection control and diagnosis systems, tritium is another isotope of hydrogen. Spain makes a great effort so that technological improvements can influence the development of the reactor. Help with specialty materials, remote handling systems, and liquid metal systems.

Latest News

The latest news about the ITER project was that it was licensed in 2012 by the French authorities. Construction began in 2014 and component supplies were distributed among the countries participating in the project.

Not everyone agrees with the huge economic investment that nuclear fusion requires. What's more, There are some problems that must be solved, such as the generation of radioactive tritium gas.. There are some groups that explain that the energy objectives we saw could be achieved if all that investment were made in clean and cheap energy such as a combination of renewable energy.

It is also thought that the combination of renewable energy could be done in less time and at a lower cost. They take into account that producing energy by any means costs money and causes a certain environmental impact to some degree. However, renewable energy has been shown to have less environmental impact as it uses energy from nature. It does not pollute during its use and can be enhanced with technological development.

Depending on how the ITER investigation goes, It will not be possible to produce energy on a commercial level until the year 2035 at the earliest.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about the ITER project.


Be the first to comment

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *

*

*

  1. Responsible for the data: Miguel Ángel Gatón
  2. Purpose of the data: Control SPAM, comment management.
  3. Legitimation: Your consent
  4. Communication of the data: The data will not be communicated to third parties except by legal obligation.
  5. Data storage: Database hosted by Occentus Networks (EU)
  6. Rights: At any time you can limit, recover and delete your information.