Nuclear fusion, possible energy of the future, celebrates 30 years of testing in Switzerland

The scientists They have spent decades studying the possibility of obtaining energy through nuclear fusiona process inverse to the fission that occurs in conventional atomic plants, and the Swiss facility that collaborates in these investigations has revealed its secrets to journalists today, on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.

The Tokamak of the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), a device that its managers proudly say attempts “recreate the Sun on Earth”, It was shown today to journalists in order to promote research that is gaining interest in the context of climate change.

In a world where even the United Nations calls for an end to the use of fossil fuels, the world is looking more than ever at this possible source of future energy without emissions, with waste much less dangerous than that of fission and which could be used as the main raw material. hydrogen, one of the most abundant elements on the planet.

“We estimate that there are reserves for tens or hundreds of thousands of years, it does not actually create waste and since it does not produce chain reactions there is no risk of explosions,” Yves Martin, deputy director of the Swiss Plasma Center that manages the Tokamak, explained to EFE. Following Einstein’s notes

This device, whose name is a Russian acronym for “toroidal chamber with magnetic coils”, It is used to fuse two isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) in order to obtain energy by reconverting them into helium and neutrons.

This reaction complies with the famous Einsteinc2 formula, and is similar to that which occurs inside the Sun and other stars, causing the enormous amounts of energy that are released into the universe.

To achieve this fusion, in the Tokamak, hydrogen isotopes are heated by microwaves and particle injections up to 100 million degrees (a temperature even higher than that of the core of the Sun) that transform them into plasma, the fourth state of the matter (solid-liquid-gaseous-plasma).

Powerful magnetic fields are then used to confine this high-temperature plasma in that chamber in a toroidal shape (that is, similar to that of a doughnut).

The great challenge that prevents nuclear fusion from being a viable energy in the world for now is the fact that the energy necessary to heat deuterium or tritium to very high temperatures is greater than that obtained from their fusion, and that part of it It is lost through contact with the walls of the torus. Close to profitability

However, facilities similar to those in Switzerland in countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom have already managed to produce slightly more energy than is used, and it is expected that the ITER project in the south of France, in which the main world powers are working, achieve ten times more energy than you consume in the future.

“ITER will begin operating perhaps in three or four years, and after more time it will operate at its full possible capacity, but it will not yet produce electricity. “We are already working on the next step, called DEMO, which we hope can be connected to the electrical grid by mid-century,” Martin highlighted.

In the Swiss facilities they work especially on the issue of “tame” plasma to avoid energy losses, directing it through magnetic systems so that it adopts more “aerodynamics” and efficient in their energy aspect.

“We have verified that certain shapes that we call ‘snowflakes’, ‘super X diversifiers’ or ‘negative triangle’ are better than the original ones; “They are already being used in ITER and could also be used in the future DEMO”, the expert explained.

Martin stressed that the growing interest in the search for alternative energies, which has also been stimulated by the increase in gas or oil prices caused by the war in Ukraine, is reflected in greater investment sentiment.

“In the United States many private companies are already working on the merger, while in Europe There is still a combination of public and private initiatives. Recently Germany has put more money on the table, and United Kingdom is also largely driving this research“, he claimed.