December 18, 2024
3 minutes read
Will the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant be built in Virginia? Here’s why we’re skeptical:
Commonwealth Fusion Systems says the fusion power plant will be operational within the next 10 years and produce 400 megawatts of power.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ new fusion power plant is expected to become operational in the early 2030s and produce approximately 400 megawatts of clean, carbon-free power. This is enough to power a large industrial site or about 150,000 homes.
MIT-born Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) says it will build the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant within 10 years at an industrial park near Richmond, Virginia. The plant is expected to be operational in the ‘early 2030s,’ according to one official. A press release issued by MIT on TuesdayThe reactor will produce approximately 400 MW of electricity. Estimates vary, but one megawatt could power about 400 homes in the United States.
Various parties described these developments as important. Among them is Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. issued a statement “This is a historic moment for Virginia and the world.” And “this will be a watershed moment for convergence,” CFS co-founder and MIT engineering professor Dennis Whyte said in a press release.
But let’s hold on to our hack words for a moment. There are several steps that must be completed before this fusion power plant, named ARC (which stands for “Affordable, Robust and Compact”), can be connected to Virginia’s power grid. First of all, CFS never completed its demo machine, SPARC (“smallest ARC”). The company said it expects the completed SPARC to demonstrate net energy production in 2027. That alone would be a feat.
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What is a fusion reactor?
Nuclear fusion, in which atomic nuclei combine to release chunks of energy, is a natural feature of solar plasma. To mimic this process on Earth, fuel pellets (often composed of hydrogen isotopes) are ignited inside a machine called a tokamak. The tokamak generates a donut-shaped magnetic field to control ultra-high temperature plasma, which is prone to flare phenomena. In theory, the result would be energy production without the long-lived radioactive waste from nuclear fission and without the global warming contributions from burned carbon.
Failed promises clutter the path to viable convergence. But this time there is Among certain fusion experts, there was a sense of excitement about rapid acceleration after decades of plodding. In 2022, physicists at the National Ignition Facility in California showed that it is possible to: It exceeds the so-called scientific break-even point.Nuclear reactors produce more energy than is needed to start the fusion reaction.
Commonwealth Fusion System’s tokamak fusion reactor design (pictured) uses a new type of high-temperature superconducting magnet. This approach was first explored in a graduate class taught by co-founder and MIT professor Dennis Whyte.
The Virginia plant’s tokamak, based on a design created by MIT graduate students, will be particularly compact and economical because it uses a new type of superconducting magnet, Whyte said in a press release.
Why is the location Virginia?
Virginia is home to Data Center Alley, home to the world’s densest concentration of server farms thanks to the current boom in artificial intelligence, streaming services, and other technologies. This is a facility that consumes a lot of energy and the demand is expected to grow. CFS’s Chief Commercial Officer said: new york times Fusion power plants would probably help industrial customers.
Have I never heard all this before?
Convergence, which has been studied since the mid-20th century, is a technology that always seems to be only 15 years away. Creating artificial stars is difficult. The materials in a fusion reactor must withstand temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius. And it’s expensive. France’s International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the largest nuclear fusion project on Earth, is behind schedule and over budget, jumping from an initial estimate of $6.3 billion in 2006 to $22 billion in 2023, journalist Charles Seife reports. . Scientific American last year. AndITER, whose primary goal is to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy, has no intention of powering anything.
Meanwhile, CFS secured approximately $2 billion in investment. If successful, it would do so where previous attempts by well-funded tech companies have failed. Lockheed Martin began developing a compact nuclear fusion reactor in 2010. In 2014, Lockheed Martin announced that it would develop a small nuclear fusion reactor. load on truck Before 2019. However, by 2021, Lockheed Martin will hold quietly Project.
