{"id":168400,"date":"2022-02-13T09:15:36","date_gmt":"2022-02-13T03:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=168400"},"modified":"2022-02-12T23:08:54","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T17:38:54","slug":"answered-what-is-nuclear-fusion-what-are-the-major-challenges-in-harnessing-energy-from-the-nuclear-fusion-process-briefly-comment-on-the-progress-made-in-this-regard-%e2%80%af","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-what-is-nuclear-fusion-what-are-the-major-challenges-in-harnessing-energy-from-the-nuclear-fusion-process-briefly-comment-on-the-progress-made-in-this-regard-%e2%80%af\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] What is Nuclear Fusion? What are the major challenges in harnessing energy from the nuclear fusion process? Briefly comment on the progress made in this regard.\u202f"},"content":{"rendered":"<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Introduction: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Explain the process of nuclear fusion.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Body: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Write the challenge in harnessing fusion energy. Write the progress of efforts in harnessing the fusion energy.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Conclusion: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Conclude contextually.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Nuclear Fusion<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> is the process by which <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> one while <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">releasing massive amounts of energy<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">. For nuclear fusion, nuclei need to collide with each other <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">at very high temperatures, exceeding ten million degrees<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> Celsius, to enable them to overcome their mutual electrical repulsion.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Every star in the universe, including the sun, produces energy through nuclear fusion. In the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">core of the Sun hydrogen is being converted into helium<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> while producing large amounts of energy.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Scientists have been making efforts to build a fusion nuclear reactor to harness energy for several decades, but there are many challenges<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"-\" data-font=\"Helvetica Neue\" data-listid=\"6\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Extremely high Temperatures<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">: Fusion is possible only at very high temperatures, of the order of a few <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">hundred million degrees Celsius<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">, creating such extreme temperatures is difficult.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"-\" data-font=\"Helvetica Neue\" data-listid=\"6\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Tolerant material required<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">: The materials that will make up the reactor need to be able to withstand such huge amounts of heat. This creates complication in building the reactor. At present the best material available <\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">are<\/span> <span data-contrast=\"none\">tantalum carbide and hafnium carbide; materials that can withstand temperatures of nearly 4000 degrees Celsius.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"-\" data-font=\"Helvetica Neue\" data-listid=\"6\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Controlling the plasma<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">: At such high temperatures, matter exists only in the plasma state, which tends to expand very fast, and is extremely difficult to handle and work with.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"-\" data-font=\"Helvetica Neue\" data-listid=\"6\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Sustaining the reaction in controlled manner<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">: The amount of energy produced from fusion is very large<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u202f<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">about four times as compared to nuclear fission reactions. The equipment to control this release of energy is still in experimental stages.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The benefits of fusion reaction are immense apart from generating much more energy, fusion produces<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> no carbon emissions<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">, the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">raw materials are in abundant supply<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">, it produces <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">negligible radioactive waste <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">compared to fission, and is considered much safer.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Given the benefits of fusion energy, it is considered the future of energy. There are several ongoing efforts to harness energy from the nuclear fusion process. The biggest effort in creating a fusion reactor is the<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"Helvetica\" data-listid=\"3\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">The ITER is a collaboration of <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">35 nations, including India,<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> launched in <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">1985. <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">It is to build the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">world&#8217;s largest tokamak <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">(device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma) to prove the feasibility of fusion at a large-scale.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"Helvetica\" data-listid=\"3\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">The <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">deadline for its first experimental run has been extended several times<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">, with current timeline, it is expected to become operational only in 2035.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"Helvetica\" data-listid=\"3\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Still, ITER is<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> only an experimental project<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">. The energy it will produce is about 500 MW and would not be in the form of electricity that can be used.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">deployment of fusion energy for electricity generation<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> for our everyday needs <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">might take another few decades after ITER becomes operational. <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">It needs concerted efforts from all countries to expedite the development of nuclear reactors.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction: Explain the process of nuclear fusion. Body: Write the challenge in harnessing fusion energy. Write the progress of efforts in harnessing the fusion energy. Conclusion: Conclude contextually.\u00a0 Nuclear Fusion is the process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy. For nuclear fusion,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-what-is-nuclear-fusion-what-are-the-major-challenges-in-harnessing-energy-from-the-nuclear-fusion-process-briefly-comment-on-the-progress-made-in-this-regard-%e2%80%af\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">[Answered] What is Nuclear Fusion? What are the major challenges in harnessing energy from the nuclear fusion process? Briefly comment on the progress made in this regard.\u202f<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,25,9],"tags":[10641],"class_list":["post-168400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mains-marathon","category-mains-marathon-answers","category-public","tag-nuclear-fusion","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}