 |
| |
|
|
BeBro
|
 |
of the Krauts
Mar 2000
time: 06:21
|
|
Nah......probably not, but the ITER will be built there:
quote:
France gets nuclear fusion plant
France will get to host the project to build a 10bn-euro ($12bn) nuclear fusion reactor, in the face of strong competition from Japan.
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) will be the most expensive joint scientific project after the International Space Station.
The Iter programme was held up for over 18 months as parties tried to broker a deal between the two rivals.
Nuclear fusion taps energy from reactions like those that heat the Sun.
Nuclear fusion is seen as a cleaner approach to power production than nuclear fission and fossil fuels.
Officials from a six-party consortium signed the deal in Moscow on Tuesday, for the reactor's location in the Cadarache site in southern France.
Janez Potocnik, EU commissioner for science and research said that Iter "marks a major step forward in international science cooperation".
He added: "Now that we have reached consensus on the site for Iter, we will make all efforts to finalise the agreement on the project, so that construction can begin as soon as possible."
Rich reward
The European Union, the United States, Russia, Japan, South Korea and China are partners in the project.
Japan earlier withdrew its bid, after a deal was worked out for the "runner-up" to receive a generous concessions package.
According to the package, Japan will get 20% of the project's 200 research posts while providing only 10% of the expenses, and host a related materials research facility - of which half the construction costs will be shouldered by the EU.
"It is a big success for France, for Europe and for all the partners of Iter," said a statement issued by the office of French President Jacques Chirac.
In terms of the physics and huge amounts of energy involved, the Iter project would be akin to building a star on Earth.
It would be the first fusion device to produce thermal energy at the level of conventional electricity-producing power stations, and would pave the way for the first prototype commercial power station.
In a fusion reaction, energy is produced when light atoms - the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium - are fused together to form heavier atoms.
To use controlled fusion reactions on Earth as an energy source, it is necessary to heat a gas to temperatures exceeding 100 million Celsius - many times hotter than the centre of the Sun.
The technical requirements to do this, which scientists have spent decades developing, are immense. But the rewards, if Iter can be made to work successfully, are extremely attractive.
One kilogram of fusion fuel would produce the same amount of energy as 10,000,000 kg of fossil fuel. |
Discuss 
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Jon Miller
|
|
what method are they using??
JM
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Pax
|
|
How safe is it to build a star on planet. I mean we only have one. Let's pick another spot(planet) or at least build a very very small star.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
shawnmmcc
|
|
Fusion power is the safest kind imaginable. In the old style "magnetic bottle" type reactions (Tokamak), you drop the magnetic bottle and the plasma is almost instantly too cool to do anything. The enriched pellet systems, using lasers, are already inherently safe, the actual fusion last for a fraction of a second. The byproduct of this is helium, which is also both stable and safe. The only problem could be, if cheap inexpensive fusion is developed, the resulting surge in energy use could make heat pollution into a major issue. Compared to fission byproducts or fossil fuel byproducts (Sulpher Dioxide, Nitrous Oxides, soot, etc) I'd rather having the heat pollution as the only problem.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
shawnmmcc
|
|
PH - not necessarily. If you can produce cheap power, they are a bunch of industrial applications that require huge amounts of power. These include transmuting elements, Maglev, high speed suborbital transport, etc. It would not be a problem now, but in under a century it could become a major problem.
|
|
| |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:21.
Apolyton Time is 00:21. |
top of page
|
|
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|
28-06-2005 13:58
|