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How much heat does a fusion reactor produce?
Fusion, the energy that powers the stars, might one day provide abundant energy here on Earth. In a nuclear fusion reactor, the hot, charged gas known as plasma reaches out of this world temperatures at 150 million degrees Celsius, or 10 times hotter than the center of the sun.
How do fusion reactors heat up?
Most of the energy produced inside a fusion reactor is emitted in the form of neutrons, which heat a material surrounding the fusing plasma, called a blanket. In a power-producing plant, that heated blanket would in turn be used to drive a generating turbine.
How hot is a fusion reaction?
Fusion requires temperatures greater than 15 million degrees Celsius; many reactors top 100 million degrees. That’s hot enough to melt anything solid, so confinement requires something other than a wall.
How hot does it get inside a nuclear reactor?
Then, at high temperature, it flows out. Here is another important part of reactor technology: The temperature reached in a nuclear reactor is in the range of 300 degrees Celsius. This is higher than the usual boiling point of water, 100 degrees. But the boiling point of water is not always 100 degrees.
How long is the longest fusion reaction?
The formidable reactor reached 120 million degrees Celsius for an astounding 101 seconds. China has set a new record for sustained nuclear plasma reaction. The “artificial sun” tokamak reactor ran at 120 million Celsius for 101 seconds.
How many times hotter than the Sun do fusion reactors on Earth need to be?
The challenge lies in the fact that to generate enough energy to produce electricity, these fusion reactions need to take place at temperatures around 100 million degrees Celsius, which is around 10 times hotter than the Sun.
Are uranium rods hot?
In a fission reaction, a uranium atom splits apart, releasing a lot of energy in the process. When that happens, plant operators use control rods to turn off the fission reaction, and then they take the spent fuel out of the reactor. When the pins come out, Livens says, they are hot.
How hot does a fusion reactor get?
To get your fusion reactor up and running, you need to be able to sustain a super-hot plasma inside it. To do this, you need extraordinary high pressure and a temperature of about 150 million degrees. If something goes wrong, however, and the fusion process stops, temperatures inside the reactor can drop dramatically.
How much power does it take to make a fusion reaction?
It will squeeze the plasma so that fusion can take place. The power needed to start the fusion reaction will be about 70 megawatts, but the power yield from the reaction will be about 500 megawatts. The fusion reaction will last from 300 to 500 seconds.
How does the ITER fusion reactor work?
Courtesy ITER The fusion reactor will heat a stream of deuterium and tritium fuel to form high-temperature plasma. It will squeeze the plasma so that fusion can take place. The power needed to start the fusion reaction will be about 70 megawatts, but the power yield from the reaction will be about 500 megawatts.
How long does the fusion reaction last?
The fusion reaction will last from 300 to 500 seconds. (Eventually, there will be a sustained fusion reaction.) The lithium blankets outside the plasma reaction chamber will absorb high-energy neutrons from the fusion reaction to make more tritium fuel.