Introduction to Fusion

Could fusion, the process that fuels the sun and stars, be a source of plentiful, clean, carbon-free energy on earth? Learn how fusion occurs, and what researchers around the world are doing to understand the process, and to harness its potential. Narrated by Plasma Science and Fusion Center research scientist Pablo Rodriguez-Fernandez.

[@paulvarn4712]

These techniques also have the added safety fission lacks. The containment has to be so carefully controlled by sensors and computers, when this small margin of error is is not maintained the fusion reaction stops like a candle hit with a gust of wind.

[@dtwprojects_]

Fantastic video, thank you!

[@triplem2345]

Thank you! Always some detail I didn't know about in your videos.

[@philliptyrael4654]

Can MIT post another lecture that gives a more up to date look at the current look of the technology and engineering going into things? Something like the lecture Dennis White gave (“spac in the park” or something was the title) that gave a deep look at the technology advancements of magnetics tech and why that was important to the fusion field for magnetic insulation. Those public lectures are great and I’ve been curious what advancements (if any) have been made since. Speaking as a power generation engineer, you give me the heat and I’ll give you the power. Let’s keep this moving forward. Fission is a good short term option but fusion should be our goal.

[@marz.6102]

Nice

[@arindamkoner854]

Sir, can I know more about lounging that you tell at 11:04, how it will work. Can you suggest me something. I've a basic knowledge of Plasma Physics.

[@paulvarn4712]

I answered this question above.

[@brianking992]

I think you meant "launching" electromagnetic waves into the plasma. It is called Ion Cyclotron Radio Frequency(ICRF) heating and the details can be found in the paper "Physics basis for the ICRF system of the SPARC tokamak" by Y. Lin et al. (2020.) In short, they have a small amount of Helium-3 in the plasma which they target with specially tuned radio waves at 120 MHz using a series of antennae on the inside surface.

[@bernhardschmalhofer855]

@@brianking992 Interesting, but I'm wondering why SPARC can't simply use the resonances of D and T. My guess would be that then the microwaves would not penetrate far enough into the plasma.

[@bernhardschmalhofer855]

I found more details about ICRF at www.iter.org/newsline/-/3218. Looks like ITER and SPARC use the same approach, but SPARC user higher frequencies as it runs with a higher magnetic field.

[@grantrutherford9487]

@@bernhardschmalhofer855 The quick answer is that at these resonances the wave polarization is such that heating cannot occur. You either need to set your wave's frequency to twice the cyclotron frequency or introduce a minority species. If you are interested, I suggested reading Jeff Freidberg's Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy chapter on heating and current drive.

[@bernhardschmalhofer855]

Why does every say that Deuterium is extracted from sea water? Don't existing producers of heavy water start with fresh water?

[@EntityUnknown404]

I can only speculate, but could it have something to do with seawater being vastly more abundant?