25-Year Plan for Fusion
Leo Kent from Humans Invent chatted with a scientist from the Central Laser Facility at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in Oxford, a research facility studying laser fusion. One of the two main approaches for fusion energy, “laser inertial fusion energy” uses lasers to bombard a fuel pellet. Once the fuel pellet heats up with sufficient power and force, it collapses in on itself and releases energy. Scientists believe that laser fusion can unleash a whole new source of energy that can provide clean, safe, abundant energy for decades. Kent’s interview suggests that once fusion scientists prove net power can be achieved through fusion energy, fusion reactors will be commercialized around the world within 25 years. From the article:
Getting energy from fusion seems almost too good to be true when you start writing it up on paper. For example, the fuels you need are Deuterium and Tritium. Deuterium is technically heavy water, it is a hydrogen isotope that can be extracted from sea water which there is plenty of. Tritium is available naturally but the best way to get it is to produce it from Lithium.
As long as there is plenty of Lithium, then we can get Tritium. So the fuel is abundant and it doesn’t destroy any habitat. When it comes to waste products, you get Helium, which isn’t such a bad thing anyway because people are saying we are running out of natural Helium. When it comes to radioactive waste, it is far better than the waste created from traditional nuclear power stations. They create radioactive waste that can last for thousands and thousands of years whereas the nuclear waste produced from fusion reaction is, comparatively, very short-lived. It has a half life of about 100 years and that is what nuclear energy people call a shallow grave: it does need to be buried but in a 100 years it will be fine and it won’t be damaging the earth forever.
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