France’s experimental fusion reactor would work like the sun

http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/worldwide/player.swf

The world’s most ambitious attempt to harness fusion as a source of power is taking shape in the south of France.

Fusion is the process that drives the sun – atoms are forced together to release energy – and repeating it here on Earth could in theory offer an almost endless supply of electricity.

The construction of a vast experimental reactor has now entered a key phase.

Science editor David Shukman was given special access to explain how the reactor would work.

3 replies

  1. Scientists were trying for many years to build a fusion reactor. The problem was how to handle the very high temperature on earth, which was necessary to start controlled fusion.

    The fusion system is considered very clean compared to the fission system which uses Uranium which is radio active and harmful. One should remember the accident that happened in atomic reactor at Chernobel (Russia) and the problem created in Japan after a tsunami.

    It is possible that scienists have overcome the difficulty of designing the Fusion reactor, that is a conrolled version of the H-Bomb. H-Bomb needs an A-bomb (at least one A-Bomb) to fire.

  2. It is said fusion power can be effectively harnessed with a thermoelectric converter to ensure the net energy gain.

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