Yves here. Nuclear fusion technology is beyond my pay grade. However, it is kindly assumed that human civilization experiences enough climate change to ensure modern life continues, a very dubious proposition, nuclear power seems destined to become a major part of the primary energy sources given the increased reliance on renewable solar energy and wind power. . Although this article concerns the stated achievements of one Chinese company, it is not in the general interest of Western business to reveal that without at least some of the claims.
However, there is also the question of how long it will take to make these improvements. My understandingwas that it would normally take 20 years. However, China still uses a lot of coal-fired power and therefore has an incentive to speed up the timetable significantly. But do they have the means?
A student’s mental health assessment is encouraged.
By Alex Kimani, a veteran accountant, investor, developer and researcher for Safehaven.com. Originally published at OilPrice
- For nearly two decades, the world’s hopes of building a nuclear fusion facility have hinged on the France-based International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.
- The cost of the ITER project has exceeded 20 billion euros ($21.8 billion), four times the original budget of 5 billion euros.
- Shanghai-based Unity Energy has successfully completed the high-temperature superconducting engineering qualification verification of its Honghuang 70 (HH70) Tokamak device.
It’s been seventy years since scientists began working on nuclear fusion technology, with the lure of nearly limitless clean energy proving too strong to resist. Unfortunately, milestones have been pushed back time and time again, prompting the joke that nuclear power may be decades, if not centuries, away.
For nearly two decades, the world’s prospects for building a nuclear weapons complex have depended on France. International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), funded and operated by seven member countries since 2006. Like many nuclear power projects, ITER has been dogged by repeated delays and major cost overruns. Indeed, Charles Seifedirector of the Arthur L. Carter Institute of Journalism at New York University, recently sued ITER for its lack of transparency.
According to Seife, the cost of the ITER project exceeded 20 billion euros ($21.8 billion), more than four times the initial budget of 5 billion euros (at that time it was 5.5 billion dollars) and almost ten years late from its 2016 delivery date.
Now, however, the fusion industry may have something to show the world with all its problems thanks to a historic Chinese initiative. Based in Shanghai Unity of power has successfully completed the high-temperature superconducting engineering qualification verification of its Honghuang 70 (HH70) Tokamak device, giving China a lead in the key field of high-temperature superconducting magnetic confinement. Energy Singularity has also become the first commercial company in the world to build and operate a high-efficiency tokamak.
“The design work of the device started in March 2022, and the overall installation was completed at the end of February this year, setting the fastest record for research and development of advanced tokamak devices in the world,” said Yang Zhao, Chief Executive Officer of Energy Singularity. , revealed.
So, how did this unknown Chinese company manage to pull off in two years what ITER failed to accomplish in almost two decades?
According to Yang, using high-quality superconducting materials can reduce the device capacity to about 2 percent of traditional low-temperature high-temperature devices, allowing device development time to be shortened from ~30 years to just 3-4 years. years.
According to Yang, the company has exclusive rights to the intellectual property of HH70, which has a home ownership rate of more than 96 percent, and added that all the magnetic systems of the device are made using high-quality superconducting materials. Despite its impressive success, the Energy Singularity is not resting, as Yang revealed that the company plans to complete the next-generation high-temperature superconducting tokamak device called the HH170 with a deuterium-tritium energy gain (Q) of more than -10. in 2027. In fusion language, the Q value indicates the energy efficiency of the fusion reactor, that is, the ratio of the energy produced by the device to the energy input required to sustain the fusion reaction. Q values greater than 1 mean that the generator is producing more energy than it is consuming, which is what fusion research has been trying to achieve in a vending machine for decades. Currently, the largest Q factor achieved by scientists is only 1.53.
Small Reactor Design
Unity Energy isn’t the only mixed-use startup pursuing small reactor designs. Deven, Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems is working with MIT to build their own small fusion reactor. Called Sparc, the reactor is ~1/65th the volume of the ITER reactor. The experimental reactor is expected to produce about 100 MW of heat in pulses of about 10 seconds – a blast big enough to power a small city.
That said, small reactors are by no means unique in the field of nuclear fusion. The Biden administration has been a staunch supporter of the Small Modular Reactors (SMR) that have been making waves in the nuclear fission space.
Three years ago, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)8 approved Centrus Energy Corp.’s (NYSE:LEU) bid to develop High Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) at its enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio, becoming the first company in the western world outside of Russia to do so. HALEU applications are currently limited to research reactors and medical isotope production; however, HALEU will be required for more than half of the SMRs currently in development worldwide. HALEU is only available from now on TENEXa Rosatom subsidiary company.
Last November, Centrus Energy announced that it had made its first delivery of 20 kilograms of HALEU UF6 to the DoE, completing Phase One of its contract. The company was able to complete the first phase under budget and ahead of schedule. Centrus will now move on to the second phase of the contract – which calls for the production of HALEU at a rate of 900 kilograms per year.
In January, the DoE issued a request for proposals (RFP) for uranium enrichment services to help establish a reliable domestic supply of fuel using HALEU. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will provide up to $500 million in funding for HALEU enrichment contracts selected through this RFP.
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