Jakarta –
The Korea Institute of Fusion Energy installed a new diverter on the KSTAR tokamak. Installation of this diverter makes the technology possible Artificial sun It maintains high ion temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius for longer.
KSTAR was completed in 2007 and produced its first plasma in 2008. It is about a third the size of ITER, the largest experimental reactor under construction since 2008 in France.
The two reactors, KSTAR and ITER, have the same shape, namely a device shaped like a giant donut that imitates the nuclear fusion reaction on the Sun with plasma, or electrically charged gas brought to super high temperatures and pressure.
KSTAR uses a diverter located at the bottom of the tokamak and manages waste gas and dirt from the reactor. The diverter is a plasma-facing component, meaning it sits inside the tokamak and bears the brunt of the internal surface heat.
Currently, KSTAR is capable of performing plasma operations for about 30 seconds. Scientists hope the new diverter will allow plasma operation to last 300 seconds by the end of 2026.
KSTAR originally had a carbon diverter, but in 2018 scientists started working on a tungsten diverter for the tokamak. Tungsten has a higher melting point than carbon and increases the reactor’s heat flux limit twofold, according to Korea’s National Research Council of Science and Technology. The new diverter prototype was completed in 2021, and installation was completed last year.
“At KSTAR, we have implemented a diverter with tungsten material which is also a choice made by ITER,” said KFE president Suk Jae Yoo in a release, as quoted from Gizmodo, Thursday (4/1/2024).
“We will try to contribute our best efforts in obtaining the necessary data for ITER through the KSTAR experiment,” he added.
For your information, research on nuclear fusion may be making slow but significant progress. In 2022, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory managed clean energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time.
We are still very far from the goal of creating a reliable zero-carbon energy source, and achieving this comes with several obstacles. However, this shows that this field is still moving slowly.
ITER’s first plasma is expected to be produced in 2025, and its first fusion is scheduled for 2035. But the reactor’s manufacturing timeline has slipped while its costs have ballooned, from about 5 billion euros in 2006 to more than 20 billion euros.
However, these are difficult times for tokamak reactors. Last month, the six-story JT-60SA reactor in Japan was inaugurated. Researchers affiliated with the project estimate it will take two years for the reactor to develop the plasma needed for the experiments. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are more than 50 tokamaks in operation worldwide today.
Plasma experiments with KSTAR’s new tungsten diverter will continue through February, according to the National Research Council of Science and Technology, as tokamak scientists ensure the environment is stable for the experiments and that 100 million-degree plasma temperatures can be reproduced within them.
Watch the Video “7 Countries That Make Artificial Suns”
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2024-01-03 22:44:02
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