World's largest nuclear fusion reactor completed in France

After years of collaboration and construction efforts, the International Fusion Energy Project (ITER) has announced the completion of the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor. However, exciting as this accomplishment may be, scientists have revealed that it won't be operational for another 15 years or until 2039, at the earliest. This is prepared by SSP.

Originally scheduled for its first full test in 2020, the ITER fusion reactor has faced multiple delays leading to the prolonged timeline. This means that fusion power, specifically the tokamak technology employed by ITER, may not be the timely solution needed to combat the pressing climate crisis.

During a recent news conference, ITER's director general, Pietro Barabaschi, emphasized the challenges posed by the delay, stating, "Certainly, the delay of ITER is not going in the right direction. In terms of the impact of nuclear fusion on the problems humanity faces now, we should not wait for nuclear fusion to resolve them. This is not prudent."

The mammoth endeavor involved contributions from 35 countries, comprising all member states of the European Union, as well as Russia, China, India, and the United States. Among its remarkable features, ITER boasts the world's most powerful magnet, capable of generating a magnetic field 280,000 times stronger than Earth's.

While the astounding design holds great promise, the project's budget has significantly increased. Initially estimated at $5 billion with a launch scheduled for 2020, numerous setbacks resulted in the budget swelling to more than $22 billion. Furthermore, an additional $5 billion has been proposed to cover unforeseen costs. These expenses and delays culminate in the recent announcement of a 15-year postponement.

Nuclear fusion, the process in which stars produce energy by fusing hydrogen atoms to create helium, holds immense potential. Unlike traditional nuclear reactions, fusion does not generate greenhouse gases or long-lasting radioactive waste. However, replicating these conditions within controlled environments has proven to be no small feat.

For over seven decades, scientists have sought ways to harness this astonishing power source. The tokamak design, which utilizes superheated plasma confined inside a toroidal reactor using robust magnetic fields, represents the most widespread approach to fusion reactors. The main challenge lies in maintaining the extremely turbulent and hot plasma coils long enough for nuclear fusion to occur.

Researcher Natan Yavlinsky's creation of the first tokamak in 1958 provided a launching point for further experimentation. Yet, to this day, researchers have not achieved a reactor that produces more energy than is consumed.

The primary obstacle lies in dealing with plasma at the temperatures required for fusion. Fusion reactors demand temperatures far hotter than the sun, despite operating at significantly lower pressures. The sun's core, for example, reaches temperatures of around 27 million Fahrenheit (15 million Celsius), but corresponds to pressures approximately 340 billion times the atmospheric pressure at sea level.

While heating plasma to such extreme temperatures is relatively achievable, containing it without damaging the reactor or hindering the fusion reaction poses a significant technical hurdle. Different strategies, such as utilizing lasers or implementing magnetic fields, have been explored to achieve this critical stabilization.