Table of Contents
Will ITER achieve ignition?
ITER was originally designed to reach ignition, but is currently designed to reach Q = 10, producing 500 MW of fusion power from 50 MW of injected thermal power.
Will ITER generate power?
ITER will not capture the energy it produces as electricity, but—as first of all fusion experiments in history to produce net energy gain—it will prepare the way for the machine that can.
Why does ITER take so long to build?
Why is the ITER Tokamak project taking so long to produce results? (Wiki: “Initial plasma experiments are scheduled to begin in 2025, with full deuterium-tritium fusion experiments starting in 2035.”) Because building something to even approximately replicate the temperatures and pressures at the core of a sun is HARD.
Is fusion self sustaining?
Fusion ignition is the point at which a nuclear fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining. This occurs when the energy being given off by the fusion reactions heats the fuel mass more rapidly than various loss mechanisms cool it.
How much energy will ITER produce per year?
ITER will produce about 500 MW of fusion power in nominal operation, for pulses of 400 seconds and longer. Typical plasma heating levels duriung the pulse are expected to be about 50 MW, so power amplification (Q) is 10.
How efficient will ITER be?
ITER will produce about 500 MW of fusion power in nominal operation, for pulses of 400 seconds and longer. Thus during the pulse the ITER plasma will create more energy than it consumes. The efficiency of the heating systems is ~40\%.
How much energy does ITER produce?
ITER will produce about 500 MW of fusion power in nominal operation, for pulses of 400 seconds and longer. Typical plasma heating levels duriung the pulse are expected to be about 50 MW, so power amplification (Q) is 10. Thus during the pulse the ITER plasma will create more energy than it consumes.
Why is fusion research so slow?
The core problem. Producing controlled fusion power is tremendously difficult. In a fusion reactor, the plasma needs to be heated to at least 100 million degrees and forced to collide using electromagnets. Sadly, plasma is unstable and unpredictable, so the all-important collisions are difficult to force.