Nuclear merger is considered by its defenders as the energy of tomorrow, in particular, because it produces little waste and practically no greenhouse gas.
by David Larousserie
An announcement that arouses a lot of hope, but also questions. The National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore (LLNL), California, announced, Tuesday, December 13, having taken a symbolic stage in the field of nuclear fusion. This physical phenomenon is at work both at the heart of the stars it makes shine as in the thermonuclear bombs. His mastery on Earth is presented as an energy source that can replace all the others, abundant, safe and practically non -issuing of co 2 é> in operation.
This is undoubtedly the reason why the announcement was made in person by the National Secretary for Energy of the United States, Jennifer Mr. Granholm, who welcomed what the national installation Ignition Facility (NIF) managed to produce, on Monday, December 5, more energy than that which had been brought to the system. And also 2.2 times more energy than in a previous important step taken in August 2021. “This is a historical achievement for researchers and NIF staff who have devoted their careers to make this real Ignition by fusion, and this important step will undoubtedly arouse even more discoveries, “said the Secretary of State.
The NIF is an installation that pursues both civilian objectives – studying the melting material – and military – validate models intended to maintain nuclear armaments without resorting to underground tests. While the current electric power plants operate on the principle of nuclear fission, that is to say the break of large nuclei in smaller, by releasing energy, this laboratory seeks to force marriage between nuclei Light, like Deuterium and Tritium, cousins of hydrogen. For this, it takes in very short times and in a tiny space heat them at higher temperatures than those of the sun (several million degrees).
If these conditions are met, two elements merge, then release energy as well as other particles which will maintain the boiler and generate other mergers. The initial “match” is launched by the 192 laser beams impulses during only a few billionths of seconds. These beams converge inside a cylindrical gold cavity in a high centimeter, which thus bombed emits X -rays within its breast, which then serves to heat directly a small ball 2 millimeters in diameter containing the Deuterium mixture and tritium. The capsule implodes and fusion reactions take place.
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