Breakthrough in the quest for limitless energy

 Major breakthrough in the quest for limitless energy achieved by Scientist      

Today’s nuclear power plants rely on fission reactions, where atoms are smashed apart to release energy and smaller particles. Fusion works in reverse, squeezing smaller particles together into larger atoms. Fusion can create more energy with none of the resulting radioactive waste created by fission, but we are still finding a practical way to harness this process in a power plant. Fusion is a holy grail for the energy sector, theoretically offering abundant, essentially zero-pollution power in a small physical footprint, without the need to use regional natural resources. There have been many milestones as the technology advances, and a new record in magnetic containment has recently been achieved.

The Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror research team was able to create and hold a plasma using a magnetic field strength of 17 Tesla through high-temperature superconductor magnets. The magnet systems were delivered to the University of Wisconsin's Physical Sciences Laboratory in Stoughton, Wisconsin, this year by Commonwealth Fusion Systems. The project operates as a public-private partnership with Realta Fusion, Inc., a UW-Madison spin-off company which contributes funding, according to the lab. The design is based on an old fusion device called the magnetic mirror, which was a leading approach in the field until the 1980s, as the news outlet explained. This time, it's been upgraded with the powerful HTS magnets, which trap energetic plasma in a "magnetic bottle" through advances in superconductor technology.

German-American physicist and billionaire entrepreneur Frank Laukien had some prophetic statements about the future of fusion, as reported. "If we really want a fully renewable energy supply, we need fusion as a third pillar," Laukien said, referencing solar and wind development. "Fusion is the key to a decarbonized future." "It's setting a world record in magnetic field strength for magnetically confined plasmas and is equipped with intense heating systems while still being a hands-on experiment for both graduate and undergraduate students," Realta Fusion co-founder and UW-Madison scientist Jay Anderson said.

Fusion is a nuclear process, but it's different from the atom-splitting that powers nuclear plants. Instead, fusion occurs when two nuclei are fused into a new atom. The difference in mass for the newly created atom results in an explosion of power, similar to what happens with the sun. There could be serious benefits from a device which can generate the same energy from a single gram of fuel as 11 tons of dirty coal, as proponents have suggested, all without planet-warming carbon pollution. With an eye on a clean-energy future, both US and Japan announced a partnership to fund further development and commercialization of fusion. Various innovations in the field have been announced, including one that doesn't rely on the usual magnets and lasers.

There are other approaches to creating a working fusion reactor being pursued around the world as well, such as the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. This bombards capsules of fuel with immensely powerful lasers, a process called inertial confinement fusion, and has managed to unleash almost twice the energy that was put into it. Realta Fusion CEO Kieran Furlong said in a statement, "Today's demonstration puts the compact magnetic mirror firmly back in the race towards commercial fusion energy. It's a giant leap forward for a concept that promises economically viable, zero-carbon heat and electricity."  But as Laukien said, building out renewable solar and wind projects is essential to achieving net zero goals while we continue to research the incredible potential of nuclear fusion, which is still estimated to be many years from widespread use.