The largest experimental nuclear fusion reactor in the world was ceremonially put into operation in Japan on Friday. This technology is still in its infancy, but it has been announced by some as the answer to humanity’s future energy needs.
Nuclear fusion differs from fission, a technique currently used in nuclear power plants, by fusing two atomic nuclei together instead of splitting one apart.
The goal of this JT-60SA reactor is to explore the feasibility of fusion as a safe, large, and carbon-free source of net energy – with more energy generated than is put into producing it.
The reactor is as tall as a six-story building and is located in a hangar in Naka, north of Tokyo.
It consists of a “tokamak” vessel in the shape of a donut containing swirling plasma heated to 200 million degrees Celsius.
This reactor is a joint project of the European Union (EU) and Japan and is the forerunner for its ‘big brother’ in France, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) under construction.
The ultimate goal of both projects is to coax hydrogen nuclei inside to fuse into one heavier element, helium, releasing energy in the form of light and heat, and mimicking the process that takes place inside the Sun.
Unlike fission, fusion carries no risk of catastrophic nuclear accidents, such as the one seen in Fukushima, Japan in 2011, and produces far less radioactive waste than current power plants, its exponents explain.
