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Science

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muriel_volestrangler

(101,311 posts)
Fri Dec 11, 2015, 03:18 PM Dec 2015

German Physicists Reach Milestone In Nuclear Fusion Energy Quest [View all]

A German nuclear fusion experiment has produced a special super-hot gas which scientists hope will eventually lead to clean, cheap energy.

The helium plasma - a cloud of loose, charged particles - lasted just a tenth of a second and was about one million degrees Celsius.

It was hailed as a breakthrough for the Max Planck Institute's stellarator - a chamber whose design differs from the tokamak fusion devices used elsewhere.
...
The team at Greifswald, in northeastern Germany, aim in future to heat hydrogen nuclei to about 100 million C - the necessary conditions for fusion to take place like in the Sun's interior. They will use deuterium, a heavier type, or isotope, of the element.

The stellarator's plasma was created on Thursday using a microwave laser, a complex combination of magnets and just 10mg of helium. The Max Planck Institute calls its machine Wendelstein 7-X.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35074848


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One has to use deuterium. longship Dec 2015 #1
Deuterium is relatively easy to concentrate, though muriel_volestrangler Dec 2015 #2
Yup! longship Dec 2015 #3
3H, not 3He. nt thereismore Dec 2015 #4
It both works, one reaction throws away a neutron, the other reaction throws away a proton jakeXT Dec 2015 #5
Nice, thanks. nt thereismore Dec 2015 #6
Elemental helium has no neutrons. Angleae Dec 2015 #7
AFAIK, almost all helium has 2 neutrons. longship Dec 2015 #8
On earth yes. In space no. Angleae Dec 2015 #9
Helium-2 is extremely unstable. longship Dec 2015 #10
Beta decay takes care of that. Treant Dec 2015 #11
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