The Star Builders
Page 28
Pitt, Brad, 13
plasmas, 64–69 atom structure in, 64–65
confinement and, 68, 69
control devices for, 185
density and, 68, 69
energy release in nuclear reactions and, 65–66
need for more research on, 66–69
temperature and, 64–65, 68, 69
“Plowshare” program, 214
population growth, and energy consumption, 29–30
Post, Richard, 11
power plants DEMO plans for, 197, 198, 199, 206
LIFE prototype for, 199, 206
Project Orion, 214
Proton Scientific, 143
public-private partnerships, 13, 159–60
Pulsar Fusion, 143, 144
Q measure commercial energy production and, 142–43
definition of, 92
ITER tokamak and, 188
JET reactor using, 92, 100, 105, 107–8, 183–84
types of, 92
quenching, 141
Rabi, Isidor, 161
radiation exposure, in hydrogen bomb testing, 163, 174
radioactive carbon-14 dating, 173
radioactive waste fission power and, 11–12, 40, 42
nuclear fusion and, 42
radio telescopes, 76–77
Rayleigh-Taylor instability, 129–30, 145–46
Renaissance Fusion, 24, 143
renewable energy British government projection of use of, 37–38
competitive forms of, 207
costs of, 207
diffusion problem using, 37
energy crisis solution using, 36–39, 46
environmental changes and, 210
intermittent energy generation with, 37, 38, 39
land area needed for, 37
nuclear fusion used with, 41–42
projection of global share of energy using, 39
public support for using, 40
scale problems with, 37
world energy consumption and, 34
Rimini, Fernanda, 41–42, 98–99, 102–3, 108
robotics, 41–42, 106, 119, 212
Rose, Steve, 131
Rosenbluth, Marshall, 11
Russia fusion funding by, 13, 14
ITER tokamak, Cadarache, France, and, 186–87
laser fusion facility in, 192
net energy gain goal and, 192
T-3 tokamak in, 184
Rutherford, Ernest, 49–51, 52–55, 173 atom model developed by, 50–51, 52
background of, 49–50
deuterium experiment leading to discovery of nuclear fusion by, 54–55, 61, 149
early experiments on radioactive substances by, 171
first artificial nuclear reaction performed by, 53, 61
heavy hydrogen (deuterium) experiment of, 54–55
importance of early experiments smashing particles by, 52–53
on inefficiency of early nuclear experiments, 62
on laboratory work, 122
producing energy by particle smashing and, 62, 63
splitting lithium atoms to produce energy experiment by, 53–54
Sandia National Laboratory, New Mexico, 157–59, 190
sawtooth instability, in tokamaks, 103–4
Shenguang III megajoule laser, China, 14, 193
Siemens, Werner von, 133
Sierra supercomputer, 189
simulations, 10, 23, 185, 188
solar power. See also renewable energy carbon dioxide emissions and, 42
climate change solution using, 216
costs of, 47, 202, 207
deaths per exajoule for, 181
diffusion problem using, 37
early enthusiasm for, 46–47
energy crisis solution using, 36–38
inconsistent energy generation by, 38
land area needed for, 37
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory use of, 111
public support for using, 40
world energy consumption and, 34
South Korea, superconducting tokamak (KSTAR) in, 184, 185
Soviet Union, tokamak design in, 100–2
space exploration, 213–14, 215
SpaceX, 140, 159
Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), 157
spherical tokamaks Chapman on possibility of, 156–57
Culham Centre’s use of, 157, 196
Tokamak Energy’s use of, 140–41, 146, 156, 157, 202
Square Kilometre Array, 77, 202
Stadermann, Michael, 121–22, 123
star builders, 15–26, 216–17 coming of the fusion future and, 25–26
early ideas of, 7–9
government laboratories’ efforts and, 160
net energy gain as goal of, 9
overview of individuals as, 15–25
saving the planet as motivation for, 27–28
star power. See also nuclear fusion battling climate change using, 28
energy crisis rescue plan using, 41–46
Lawson’s theory and equations on possibility of creating, 108–10
nuclear fusion energy and, 47
stars carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) cycle in, 79–80
coronal mass ejections and, 81–82
death of, and nuclear fusion, 83–86
formation of, 73–77
net energy gain and conditions in, 69, 78–79, 82–86
nuclear fusion in, 77–83
radio telescopes and, 76–77
start-ups advantages of, 144
competition among, 143–44
government funding for, 144
inertial confinement fusion used by, 22
net zero carbon emission policy and, 200
potential for broken promises by, 153
Steenbeck, Max, 96
stellar nucleosynthesis, 79
stellarators. See also Wendelstein 7-X stellarator introduction of new designs for, 154–55
mechanism of, 154
Model C, in United States, 156
net energy gain goal and, 193
supercomputers and superconductivity and, 155
strong force, and energy release in nuclear reactions, 60–61, 96
superconducting, 206 MRI machines with, 140–41
quenching and, 141
tokamak design with, 140, 142, 184, 187
Wendelstein 7-X stellarator with, 155
Suratwala, Tayyab, 118–19
TAE Life Sciences, 147–48
TAE Technologies, 24, 143, 146–48 approach used by, 146–47, 149
financial backers of, 147
net energy gain goal and, 193
timeline for, 147–48
Teller, Edward, 111, 115, 120, 212, 214
Thermonuclear Engine, 118
thermonuclear fusion, 149, 151
thermonuclear weapons, 8, 17, 18
Thiel, Peter, 12, 146
Thomson, G. P., 96–97
Thomson, Joseph John “J. J.,” 50, 56, 93
Thomson scattering, 93, 102
Three Mile Island accident (1979), United States, 172
T-3 tokamak, Russia, 184
Thunberg, Greta, 28
tidal power. See also renewable energy diffusion problem using, 37
energy crisis solution using, 36–37
land area needed for, 37
Tokamak Energy, 20–21, 27, 139–43 Carling’s management of, 21
challenge of working with plasma physics at, 67
cost issues and scale and, 202
deuterium-tritium fusion reactions used by, 63
engineers and technological challenge of fusion in, 139
funding raised by, 139, 154
fusion energy development timeline and, 46
net energy gain goal of, 142, 144–45, 193
power production and, 142–43
spherical tokamaks used by, 140–41, 146, 156–57, 202
tokamaks. See also spherical tokamaks basic design elements of, 100–2
Chapman on
challenges facing, 194–96
Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ use of, 141–42
confinement of plasma in, 186
DEMO power plant prototype, 197, 198, 199, 206
high temperatures reached by, 184
instabilities in, 98–99, 102–4
JET reactor as, 100
maintaining internal chamber wall conditions in, 104–6
mix of temperature, density, and confinement in, 185–86
Soviet design of, 100, 102
spectroscopy for checking conditions in, 104–5
Tore Supra tokamak, 184
toroidal pinch machine, 97–100, 102
tritium attempts at breeding, 195–96, 197
energy security and access to, 43
fusion using, 51. See also deuterium-tritium fusion
Lawson’s equations on use of, 109–10
number of years left for supply of, if used exclusively, 44–45
structure of, as hydrogen isotope, 51–52
UFL-2M laser fusion facility, Russia, 192
United Kingdom Extinction Rebellion movement in, 27
funding from, 157
land area needed for wind power generation in, 37
renewable energy use projection for, 37–38
UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), 88–89
UK Atomic Energy Research Establishment, 54
UK Committee on Climate Change, 37–38
United States Green New Deal proposal in, 28
ITER tokamak, Cadarache, France, and, 186–87
US Department of Energy, 20, 144, 189, 191, 205
US Energy Information Administration, 30, 206n
uranium, 44, 166–67
Van Wonterghem, Bruno, 1–3, 7, 17, 118, 126–27, 177–78, 191
Wagner, Fritz, 184–85
Walton, Ernest, 53–54, 61
wave power. See tidal power
weak force, and energy release in nuclear reactions, 60, 96
Wendelstein 7-X (W7X) stellarator, 24–25, 154–56, 185–86, 193
WEST tokamak, France, 184
Whyte, Dennis, 46
Wilson, Howard, 67
Wilson, Taylor, 12
wind power. See also renewable energy carbon dioxide emissions and, 42
climate change solution using, 216
costs of, 39, 40, 207
deaths per exajoule for, 181
diffusion problem using, 37
energy crisis solution using, 36–37
intermittent energy generation by, 38, 39
land area needed for, 31, 37
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory use of, 112
world energy consumption and, 34
Wisoff, Jeff, 42, 78–79, 190, 191
World Health Organization (WHO), 32, 33
Zap Energy, 143, 144
ZETA machine, 151, 152, 184
Z machine, Sandia National Laboratory, 158–59
z-pinch machine, 127, 158–59
Z Pulse Power Facility, 16
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Turrell, Arthur, author. Title: The star builders : nuclear fusion and the race to power the planet / Arthur Turrell. Description: First Scribner hardcover edition. | New York : Scribner, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020050938 | ISBN 9781982130664 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781982130671 (paperback) | ISBN 9781982130688 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Controlled fusion. | Renewable energy sources. | Nuclear energy—Environmental aspects. Classification: LCC QC791.735 T87 2021 | DDC 539.7/64—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020050938
ISBN 978-1-9821-3066-4
ISBN 978-1-9821-3068-8 (ebook)