How big is a tokamak?

830 cubic metres. The ITER Tokamak will be the largest ever built, with a plasma volume of 830 cubic metres.

How small can a tokamak be?

TBR-1 was smaller than the STOR-M tokamak (R=0.46m, a=0.125)[3], which was, according to [4], the smallest tokamak that demonstrated some of the features of H-mode.

Can tokamak explode?

During operation, the ITER Tokamak chamber will contain only a tiny amount, less than one tenth of a gram, of hydrogen fuel at any given moment. If disruption occurs during a pulse, the reaction cools and ends. "A nuclear explosion in ITER is simply not possible," says Loughlin.

What is the largest tokamak in the world?

The ITER Tokamak

The tokamak is an experimental machine designed to harness the energy of fusion. ITER will be the world's largest tokamak, with a plasma radius (R) of 6.2 m and a plasma volume of 840 m³.

What is a tokamak device?

A tokamak is a machine that confines a plasma using magnetic fields in a donut shape that scientists call a torus. Fusion energy scientists believe that tokamaks are the leading plasma confinement concept for future fusion power plants.

Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough: China’s Tokamak Fusion Reactor Sets Major Record

How does a tokamak not melt?

Fusion powers the sun by forcing hydrogen atoms to combine into helium and releasing enormous amounts of energy. A tokamak uses strong magnetic fields to confine a plasma that is heated above 200 million ℃, maximizing the efficiency of hydrogen isotope fusion.

What does tokamak mean in Russian?

A tokamak (/ˈtoʊkəmæk/; Russian: токамáк) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power.

How big is JET tokamak?

JET has a major radius of 3 metres, and the D-shaped vacuum chamber is 2.5 metres wide and 4.2 metres high. The total plasma volume within it is 100 cubic metres, about 100 times larger than the largest machine in production when the JET design began.

Is cold fusion possible?

There is currently no accepted theoretical model that would allow cold fusion to occur.

How far off is nuclear fusion?

There's huge uncertainty about when fusion power will be ready for commercialisation. One estimate suggests maybe 20 years.

What happens if a tokamak fails?

If any of the systems fail (such as the confining toroidal magnetic field) or if, by accident, too much fuel is put into the plasma, the plasma will naturally terminate (what we call “disrupt”) – losing its energy very quickly and extinguishing before any sustained damage is done to the structure.

Could a fusion reactor create a black hole?

So in short: No. Nuclear fission cannot generate black holes. Nor could nuclear fusion reactors (if they ever become feasible). However, micro-black holes ARE possible (in theory), but if one did form, it wouldn't be able to do any damage to Earth.

What is the smallest possible fusion reactor?

A look inside MIT's C-Mod, which is only 0.68 meters in radius -- the smallest fusion reactor with the strongest magnetic field in the world.

How do you make a tokamak?

How to create a tokamak configuration: (a) If the current flows, a magnetic field is generated around the current. (b) Arranging circular coils around the torus and energizing the coil produces a magnetic field in the toroidal direction. (c) Toroidal plasma current produces a magnetic field linking the torus.

How big is a fusion reactor?

The plasma in a tokamak fusion reactor would have a major diameter in the range of 10 metres (33 feet) and a minor diameter of roughly 2 to 3 metres. The plasma current would likely be on the order of tens of millions of amperes, and the flex density of the toroidal magnetic field would measure several teslas.

How hot does a tokamak get?

The temperatures inside the ITER Tokamak must reach 150 million degrees Celsius—or ten times the temperature at the core of the Sun—in order for the gas in the vacuum chamber to reach the plasma state and for the fusion reaction to occur.

What could 59 megajoules power?

The 59 MJ is described as sustained but it was over 5 seconds with an average output of 11MW. If this energy could be captured and used to power a steam turbine, then the power station output would be about 4MW, which is not much. “I would describe it as a proof of concept, but there is a lot further to go.

What is JET tokamak?

JET is the world's largest and most advanced tokamak.

Operated by Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, the Joint European Torus (JET) is the focal point of the European fusion research programme. JET was designed to study fusion in conditions approaching those needed for a power plant.

How do you get energy out of a tokamak?

Inside a tokamak, the energy produced through the fusion of atoms is absorbed as heat in the walls of the vessel. Just like a conventional power plant, a fusion power plant will use this heat to produce steam and then electricity by way of turbines and generators.

When was the tokamak invented?

The tokamak concept was first developed in the 1950s by two Soviet physicists, Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov, who had been inspired by a letter from Oleg Lavrentiev. The first working tokamak, the T-1, was created by Natan Yavlinsky, in 1958.

Could a fusion reactor explode?

Fortunately, the reactor cannot explode. A nuclear explosion cannot occur because the fuel is not compact enough to allow an uncontrolled chain reaction. The MIT reactor has a lot of water and core structural materials that slow the neutrons down before they reach other fissile atoms.

What is hotter than the Sun?

And the answer: lightning. According to NASA, lightning is four times hotter than the surface of the sun. The air around a stroke of lightning can peak at 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, while the surface of the sun is around 11,000 degrees.

Why is there no fusion power?

One of the biggest reasons why we haven't been able to harness power from fusion is that its energy requirements are unbelievably, terribly high. In order for fusion to occur, you need a temperature of at least 100,000,000 degrees Celsius. That's slightly more than 6 times the temperature of the Sun's core.