Prospects for New Nuclear Energy in 2040

For humans, as fossil fuels are depleting, how to use nuclear energy has become a thorny issue. In fact, in the field of nuclear energy utilization, there is also a twin brother in the nuclear fission reaction, that is nuclear fusion reaction. Recently, a nuclear fusion experimental device named “National Ignition Device” in the United States has realized “the energy released during nuclear fusion is greater than the energy consumed”, which is an important achievement in the research of nuclear fusion, and it also allows people to look into the future. A new era of cleaner, efficient, and safe nuclear energy applications.

The principle of nuclear fusion reaction is simple and difficult to implement Since nuclear fusion is the future of nuclear energy applications, we must know what nuclear fusion is and how it relates to nuclear fission. Dr. Zhang Zhen of the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Hefei Institute of Physical Science explained to this reporter: “The nuclear fission reaction is the physical reaction that causes the nuclear (heavy) nuclear fuel to split, forming two new atomic nuclei (light cores). Nuclear fusion is the opposite of what is happening. Two light cores (hydrogen atoms and deuterium atoms, respectively) are fused together to form a heavy nuclide (helium atom), and energy is released during the fusion process."

Although sounds simple, in actual practice, the difficulty of nuclear fusion is considerable. Zhang Zhen introduced three important conditions for the nuclear fusion reaction: “We use a lighter to light something and we need to reach a lighted item to be ignited. It takes a critical point before nuclear fusion takes place. The first is temperature, the aforementioned United States. In this nuclear fusion experimental device, they used hundreds of lasers to heat the target pellets to obtain the high temperature and pressure required for nuclear fusion; followed by the density of the reactants in the reactor, because the atoms undergoing the fusion reaction is a small probability event. Therefore, if you want to carry out nuclear fusion reaction, you need to inject high-density reactants into the reactor and confine it in a smaller volume so that fusion reaction may occur. Finally, if the reactor contains hydrogen and helium nuclei Simply colliding is not enough to complete the fusion reaction. The electromagnetic force between the atomic nuclei needs to be overcome. The nuclear fusion reaction can only occur when the distance between atomic nuclei is so small that the mutually attracting nuclear forces are greater than the mutually repulsive electromagnetic forces. ”

In addition, it is also important to provide a safe “dating” place for the hydrogen and deuterium atoms of the reactants. "Because the temperature required for nuclear fusion reaction is quite high, no substance in reality can withstand the high temperature of billions of degrees at the time of fusion reaction. At present, there are mainly two ways of controlled nuclear fusion, one is inertial confinement nuclear fusion, one The magnetic confinement is nuclear fusion, and we used the latter in the EAST (Eastern Hyperloop) nuclear fusion experiment, which uses a magnetic field to constrain the ultra-high temperature reactant and allow it to move inside the annular reaction vessel without touching the reaction vessel. ."

New hope for future energy “The biggest problem facing the nuclear fusion reaction now lies in the energy cost issue. At present, the “Eastern Super Ring” project plasma can exist for about 1000 seconds, but this 1000 second reaction time generates energy. It is not enough to offset the cost of energy consumed in the trial. If the fusion energy generated by nuclear fusion is not as high as the energy consumed, then its application in real life is still far away." Zhang Zhen said that the U.S. nuclear The reason why fusion experiment results are widely concerned by the academic community is precisely because this means that the nuclear fusion reaction has taken the first step towards practical application.

"Compared with nuclear fission, the advantage of nuclear fusion lies in the fact that the energy released by nuclear materials of the same quality is incomparable to nuclear fission; secondly, in the acquisition of nuclear fuel, the acquisition and processing of hydrogen and helium are also Radioactive uranium and plutonium are much easier; finally, the nuclear waste generated after nuclear fusion reaction is basically harmless to humans and nature after harmless treatment, which is also much better than the nuclear fission reaction. Radioactive waste. So no matter how you look, nuclear fusion reactions will be the future direction of human energy development."

According to Zhang Zhen, at present, the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project team developed jointly by several countries has boldly predicted that around 2040, thermonuclear reactions will be put into commercial operations in the energy sector. At that time, nuclear power plants that have become nuclear core will provide energy support for people's production and living. In the future, with the deepening of research and advances in science and technology, nuclear fusion reactors will also be miniaturized, replacing the internal combustion engine as a power source for various vehicles.