Japan has inaugurated the world’s biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor, the JT-60SA, in Naka, north of Tokyo. This reactor, a joint project between the European Union and Japan, aims to explore the viability of fusion as a safe, large-scale, and carbon-free energy source. Fusion, unlike the fission process used in current nuclear plants, involves fusing two atomic nuclei.
The JT-60SA reactor, a six-story-high machine with a donut-shaped “tokamak” vessel, is designed to heat plasma up to 200 million degrees Celsius. It serves as a precursor to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) being built in France. The goal of these projects is to mimic the Sun’s process, fusing hydrogen nuclei into helium and releasing energy.
Sam Davis, deputy project leader for the JT-60SA, highlighted the collaboration of over 500 scientists and engineers and more than 70 companies from Europe and Japan. EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson described the JT-60SA as “the most advanced tokamak in the world” and a significant milestone in fusion history.
This development follows the achievement of “net energy gain” at the US National Ignition Facility, which uses inertial confinement fusion. Fusion is seen as a potential key energy source in the future, offering a safer alternative to fission with less radioactive waste and no risk of catastrophic accidents.
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