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First Fusion Reactor to be Built in France for 12.8Bil
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| Krypton |
It won't be until at least 2040 until we actually will have a commercial use for it, but this is definately a start. I always compare the times to 100 years ago. So, I'm thinking, 1906, the airplane just started flying. By the next 100 years, we're in space. I think by 2106, we'll be using radically new technologies.
Source
| quote: | Europe, Six Nations Agree on $12.8 Billion Reactor (Update2)
By Tom Cahill
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Europe, the U.S. and five other nations signed a 10 billion euro ($12.8 billion) agreement to build an experimental nuclear-fusion reactor that one day could replace conventional nuclear power plants.
The U.S., South Korea, China, India, Japan, Russia and the European Union agreed to finance and share the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, at a signing ceremony at the president's Elysee Palace in Paris today.
France, which operates 58 nuclear reactors, fought to host the project in southern France, winning out over Japan. French companies including Areva SA, the world's biggest maker of nuclear reactors, and Alstom SA, a maker of power stations, will compete with Toshiba Corp., General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Co. to build the project.
``If nothing changes, humanity will have devoured in 200 years the basic fossil fuels accumulated during hundreds of millions of years, triggering a climactic earthquake,'' French President Jacques Chirac said, after a ceremonial signing of the accord. ``We are duty-bound to take these steps for our dependents.''
The project's funds will be invested over 40 years. Half of that will be spent on construction, set to begin next year, in the coming decade.
`Well-Placed Skepticism'
``There's a lot at stake,'' said Raymond Orbach, undersecretary for science at the U.S. Department of Energy. ``We will have enough energy for the whole world if it works. What we're talking about is 30 years from now power from this flowing into the grid. Skepticism is well-placed, but we think it's worthwhile trying.''
The project is aimed at harnessing new sources of energy based on nuclear fusion that have less waste than nuclear power and emit no greenhouse gasses.
``I am confident that future generations will say we were right to believe in the dream of physics harnessing the force of the stars,'' Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said at the ceremony.
Fusion, the process that powers stars, could be cheaper and safer than fission, which is at the core of nuclear power plants. ITER members say uniting the atoms of lighter elements such as hydrogen instead of splitting heavier ones such as uranium generates more energy and less radioactivity.
Giving Up
The signing marks the end of more than 11 years of negotiation, some of it bruising. Japan last year decided to give up its effort to host the project.
``The way has not always been easy,'' Takeshi Iwaya, first vice minister of foreign affairs for Japan, said after signing the document. ``As you know Japan has decided to cede the host position of ITER. This was a truly difficult decision for our nation, but we remain committed.''
The experimental reactor in France is expected to lead to a prototype reactor that all nations can draw from in building fusion reactors to deliver electrical power.
``It's obvious that we have a very serious situation when we talk about clean energy for the future,'' Janez Potocnik, head of science and research for the European Commission, said in an interview. ``We are searching for answers and have already come very far. We're confident we can solve this.'' |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| For those of us who don't know the science... what's the quantifiable advantage of a fusion plant over a regular nuclear one? |
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| Lilith |
Shorter half life of radioactive waste and comparatively tiny amounts of fuel being used which run for many times longer... assuming Wikipedia isnt lying too me :)
Getting it too work though seems too be the kicker. |
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| Krypton |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
For those of us who don't know the science... what's the quantifiable advantage of a fusion plant over a regular nuclear one? |
It gives use the chance to develop an unlimited energy source. The same self-sustaining energy that powers the sun can also power the entire planet forever if we find out how to utilize such energy, which this reactor will help us do.
Unlike conventional nuclear reactors, which uses fission to obtain energy, fusion is opposite of fission. |
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| Dervish |
I could tell you the long version but basicly if you look at the chart below if you take something from a low point and manage to move it to a high point you get energy.
Fission takes stuff for the high the U's on the right and breaks them into two making them into stuff in the bulge.
Fusion takes stuff from the far left and fuses it into something in the bulge.
As you can see the jump is much higher = more energy.
Also you create far more stable (and so less reactive) products. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| so, what are the chances of this thing working? i always thought fusion for power was a pipedream? |
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| Dervish |
Pretty sure it has been done, and positive power taken out of it already (i.e. getting out more than you put in).
But it only lasted a really short time. |
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| Sunsnail |
| I studied ITER like two years ago :wtf: |
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| nrjizer |
| If I remember correctly, fusion has been done, but keeping it going is proving to be the hard part. |
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| Krypton |
Oh, it has been done, but for only a very short time, like seconds, maybe less.
I predict that by the next turn of the century, fusion power plants will have been achieved. |
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| Q5echo |
| quote: | Originally posted by Krypton
I predict that by the next turn of the century, fusion power plants will have been achieved. |
wow, you're like Nostradomus and .
sorry. i've been drinking...wait can you tell me when i'm gonna get laid? |
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| DJ Shibby |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
wow, you're like Nostradomus and .
sorry. i've been drinking...wait can you tell me when i'm gonna get laid? |
Easy! Never!
:stongue: :stongue:
just playing, happy thanksgiving bitches. |
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