We must be aware of the recent G8 summits, the nuke deals, world environment days . Instead of planning and discussing on what we shdnt be doing to pollute , we can think constructively. Why don't we think of alternate sources of energy instead of the age old petrol , diesel oil sources. There are a lot of benefits if we could find such sources .
Have you ever thought how Sun gives us so much of energy ? The process of energy production in Sun is Nuclear Fusion . This is the sister of the very well known nuclear fission which is used in Atom bombs and nuclear reactors . As the name suggests, Fusion is just combining a few lightweight isotopes into a heavier atom . Scientists have identified that Deuterium , Tritium ( H2 and H3 isotopes of Hydrogen) combine to form Helium and a neutron. In this process of combining a lot of energy .
"So trivial isnt it ". Why are scientists not doing this then ? The catch here is this whole process of this combination can be achieved only at very high temperatures at the order of 100 million degrees . Sustenance of these high temperatures is just not easy . There are special designed devices/machines for these called Tokamaks. Recent developments have been able to sustain this state of plasma only for a few 1000 seconds . But for fusion to become viable and a source of energy we need to sustain these temperatures for long periods of time. Hope scientists come out with a path breaking discovery as soon as possible.
Now FYI , 30 mg of deuterium produces about energy equivalent to 300 liters of Oil. Come on guys we need to achieve this process of fusion as soon as possible.
Having said all these, I was just thinking on a lighter note , construction on any day is a tougher task than destruction as is fission which is much more easily achievable than Fusion . What say ?
Madhu
- Fishing the fusion .
Have you ever thought how Sun gives us so much of energy ? The process of energy production in Sun is Nuclear Fusion . This is the sister of the very well known nuclear fission which is used in Atom bombs and nuclear reactors . As the name suggests, Fusion is just combining a few lightweight isotopes into a heavier atom . Scientists have identified that Deuterium , Tritium ( H2 and H3 isotopes of Hydrogen) combine to form Helium and a neutron. In this process of combining a lot of energy .
"So trivial isnt it ". Why are scientists not doing this then ? The catch here is this whole process of this combination can be achieved only at very high temperatures at the order of 100 million degrees . Sustenance of these high temperatures is just not easy . There are special designed devices/machines for these called Tokamaks. Recent developments have been able to sustain this state of plasma only for a few 1000 seconds . But for fusion to become viable and a source of energy we need to sustain these temperatures for long periods of time. Hope scientists come out with a path breaking discovery as soon as possible.
Now FYI , 30 mg of deuterium produces about energy equivalent to 300 liters of Oil. Come on guys we need to achieve this process of fusion as soon as possible.
Having said all these, I was just thinking on a lighter note , construction on any day is a tougher task than destruction as is fission which is much more easily achievable than Fusion . What say ?
Madhu
- Fishing the fusion .
2 comments:
Hi madhu ....greetings! you have touched on a topic of the future...More info is available at the http://www.iter.org
ITER is a joint international research and development project that aims to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power. The partners in the project - the ITER Parties - are the European Union (represented by EURATOM), Japan, the People´s Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA. ITER will be constructed in Europe, at Cadarache in the South of France.
The sooner we crack it the better for all of mankind!
We already bit more than we can chew with the fission from all nuclear reactors. And that's about containing radio-active waste and securing the planet from radio-active material.
Wouldn't we have to deal with more of such things if we use fusion? I believe radio-active material is safest when it is kept outside earth's atmosphere. So, any fission or fusion has to happen in space. The sun's already doing it for us and we do not need to reinvent the wheel. So, my vote is for solar energy. What say?
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