International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER): About

• The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is an international collaboration between seven countries to demonstrate nuclear fusion as a clean source of unlimited energy.
• International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) will be the first fusion device that will test the integrated technologies, materials, and physics regimes needed for the commercial production of fusion-based electricity.
• International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is known as the world’s largest tokamak.
• Partners:
  • China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States are the countries that have collaborated on a 35-year collaboration to build and operate the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) experimental device.
  • The members will share of the cost of project construction, operation and decommissioning.
  • The experimental results and any intellectual property generated by the fabrication, construction and operation phases will also be shared.
  • Europe will contribute the largest portion of construction costs (45.6 percent); the remainder is shared equally by others (9.1 percent each).

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER): More on the News

• India’s Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) has supplied approximately four km of cryolines and about six km of return lines for warm gases.
• The IPR has also contributed to the completion of the assembly of top lid sectors of the cryostat.

Tokamak

• A tokamak is a machine that holds plasma using magnetic fields in a donut shape. It is designed to harness the energy of fusion.
• The tokamak has been adopted around the world as the most suitable configuration of magnetic fusion device.
• Working:
  • The device will use extreme heat and pressure to convert gaseous hydrogen fuel into plasma.
  • The charged particles of the plasma can be controlled by the massive magnetic coils placed around the walls.
  • The heat generated during fusion will be used to produce steam and then electricity by way of turbines and generators.

Nuclear Fusion

• Fusion is the source of energy for the Sun and stars. Hydrogen nuclei collide, fuse into heavier helium atoms and release tremendous amounts of energy during the process.
• The process releases energy because the total mass of the resulting single nucleus is below the mass of the two original nuclei.
• The most efficient fusion reaction in the laboratory setting would be the reaction between two hydrogen isotopes, deuterium (D) and tritium (T).
• Conditions for nuclear fusion:
  • Very high temperature (about 150,000,000° Celsius)
  • Sufficient plasma particle density (to increase the likelihood of collisions)
  • Sufficient time of confinement (to hold the plasma)
• Benefits of nuclear fusion energy:
  • No radioactive waste
  • High efficiency
  • Inexpensive fuel
  • No greenhouse gases are emitted
  • High energy density
  • No risk of meltdown of reactor

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