What is Nuclear Fusion?

Nuclear fusion, also known as nuclear fusion, fusion reaction, fusion reaction, or thermonuclear reaction. A nucleus refers to a small-mass atom, mainly deuterium. Under certain conditions (such as ultra-high temperature and high pressure), the electrons outside the nucleus can get rid of the nucleus of the nucleus only under extremely high temperature and pressure, so that two atomic nuclei can Attracting each other and colliding together, the nucleus polymerizes to generate a new heavier nucleus (such as helium). Although the neutron has a larger mass, it can escape the nucleus during this collision because it is not charged. The release of a large number of electrons and neutrons is a huge energy release. This is a form of nuclear reaction. There is huge energy in the nucleus, and the change of the nucleus (from one kind of nucleus to another kind of nucleus) is often accompanied by the release of energy. Nuclear fusion is the opposite form of nuclear reaction to nuclear fission. Scientists are working on controlled nuclear fusion, which may become a future energy source. Nuclear fusion fuel can come from seawater and some light nuclear, so nuclear fusion fuel is endless. Humans can already achieve uncontrolled nuclear fusion, such as the explosion of a hydrogen bomb ^[1] .

The fusion procedure was discovered by Australian scientist Mark Oliphant in 1932. Then in the early 1950s, he was

Nuclear fusion, i.e. light nuclei (e.g.

Electrolyzed water H ₂ O generates H ₂ , and the high-energy radiation vapor generated by nuclear fission compresses hydrogen (H ₂ ). At this time, the hydrogen gas becomes ionic, and the radiated vapor compresses H. The fusion of two H nuclear nuclei produces one He nucleus. energy of. It is generally carried out in an ultra-high temperature and ultra-high pressure enclosed environment.

A fusion reaction between D (deuterium) and T (tritium) will produce a

Nuclear fusion refers to atoms with low mass, mainly refers to

There are many ways to achieve nuclear fusion. The earliest famous method was the "Tokamak" type magnetic field confinement method. It uses the strong magnetic field generated by a strong current to turn

Einstein

The main types of controlled nuclear fusion:

1. Sun-Gravitational Constraint Fusion ^[2]

   The Chinese new generation thermonuclear fusion device EAST successfully completed the discharge experiment for the first time on September 28, 2010, and obtained a high-temperature plasma discharge with a current of 200 kA and a time close to 3 seconds. ^[5]

   Researcher Li Jiangang, director of the Institute of Plasma of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in charge of this project, said that this experiment achieved 100 million degrees of high temperature inside the device, physical experiments of plasma establishment and circular cross-section discharge, etc., and achieved the expected results.

   The EAST device was independently designed and built in China for 8 years and cost 200 million yuan.

   The United States, France and other countries launched the 4.6 billion Euro International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in the mid-1980s, which aims to establish the world's first controlled thermonuclear experimental reactor to deliver huge cleansing to humans. energy. This process is similar to the process by which the sun generates energy, so the controlled thermonuclear fusion experimental device is also commonly known as the "artificial sun." ^[6]

   China joined the ITER program in 2003 ^[7] . The Plasma Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hefei, Anhui is the main domestic commitment unit of this international scientific and technological cooperation program. The research and construction of the EAST device has a stable discharge capacity of a record 1000 seconds, exceeding all similar devices under construction in the world.

   Professor Wan Xi, general manager of EAST Big Science Engineering, said that compared to ITER, EAST is much smaller in scale, but both are fully superconducting non-circular cross-section tokamak, that is, the plasma configuration and main engineering of both The technical basis is similar, and EAST was put into experimental operation at least 10 to 15 years earlier than ITER.

   According to the Science and Technology Daily on October 17, 2014, Lockheed Martin, a veteran US military giant, recently announced that it has made a technological breakthrough in the development of an energy source based on nuclear fusion technology. The first one can be installed behind a truck. Small-scale reactors are expected to be born within a decade. ^[8]

   In the long run, nuclear energy will be the main energy source after oil, coal and natural gas, and mankind will move from "oil civilization" to "nuclear energy civilization".