A nuclear fusion company from the United Kingdom is leveraging an initiative in the United States to design and build a breakthrough reactor capable of powering 70,000 homes, according to a news release from developer Tokamak Energy.
The "early look" at the design was showcased during an October conference of physics experts in Atlanta. It's the result of a U.S. Energy Department fusion decadal development program announced by the Biden administration in 2022, all per Tokamak and a White House statement.
"The first design details of our high-field spherical tokamak created great excitement," Tokamak Energy President Michael Ginsberg said in the company's report. The statement adds that the goal is for net power to be generated at the pilot plant by the middle of the next decade.
The company is named after typically doughnut-shaped machines developed by experts around the world to contain and sustain fusion reactions. The devices must control chemistry that creates an environment hotter than the sun's core, per Tokamak.
The research could have energy-transforming potential.
That's because fusion can provide abundant, air-pollution-free power without the long-lasting nuclear waste or meltdown risks carried with current fission tech, if it's successfully harnessed. Fission produces electricity at around 440 plants worldwide, as noted by the World Nuclear Association. Fission splits atoms to make energy. Fusion combines them, per U.S. government experts.
Tokamak's proposed tokamak would leverage superconducting magnets "to confine and control the deuterium and tritium hydrogen fuel." The company has been working with the units for more than a decade. It's the first private company to hit the plasma benchmark temperature of an incomprehensible 100 million degrees Celsius in a sphere-shaped unit, all per the news release.
Fission energy is making a comeback, as well. Microsoft recently announced plans to reopen a part of Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania to offset energy used by its data centers. The nuclear plant experienced an accident in 1979 and was partially shuttered. The rest of it was closed in 2019 for economic reasons, according to ABC News.
The report has drawn critics, including actress Jane Fonda. She wrote in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece that reopening the site is tempting fate. Physicist Amory Lovins told The Cool Down that nuclear energy is increasingly expensive. The founder of Colorado-based clean energy think tank RMI said that renewable power from the wind and sun is a better investment to meet electricity demand.
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For all of nuclear's faults, it doesn't produce planet-warming emissions, a crucial perk. Our world's overheating is linked to problems even in our oceans. Rising coastal waters are endangering beachfront communities, as highlighted by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
If sustained efficiently, fusion reactions could carry fission's environmental perks, sans the big safety concerns. About 2.2 pounds of fusion fuel generates energy comparable to burning more than 22 million pounds of coal — with no warming gases. Fusion could power towns, cities, and industry, all per Tokamak's news release.
"We now look forward to working with our partners in the U.S. to evolve and progress this design," Ginsberg said.
You can help address overheating concerns now by modernizing your home with some money-saving tech. Induction stove tops are high-tech alternatives to gas that can enable speedy cooking without fume production, as one example. Rebates remain available to make buying one an easier decision.
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