Fusionforskning

Fusionforskning is the scientific and technological endeavor to harness nuclear fusion as a source of energy. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the sun and other stars, where light atomic nuclei combine to form heavier nuclei, releasing vast amounts of energy. Scientists aim to replicate this process on Earth in a controlled manner to create a clean, virtually limitless, and safe energy supply.

The primary challenge in fusionforskning is achieving and sustaining the extreme conditions necessary for fusion to occur. This requires heating a plasma, an ionized gas, to temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius, significantly hotter than the sun's core. At these temperatures, the nuclei have enough kinetic energy to overcome their electrostatic repulsion and fuse. Concurrently, the plasma must be confined at a sufficient density for a long enough duration to allow a net energy gain.

Two main approaches are being pursued for plasma confinement: magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). MCF uses powerful magnetic fields to contain the hot plasma within a vacuum vessel, typically in a toroidal (doughnut) shape, such as in tokamaks and stellarators. ICF, on the other hand, uses intense lasers or particle beams to rapidly compress and heat a small pellet of fusion fuel, causing it to implode and initiate fusion reactions before it can disperse.

Major international projects like ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) in France are at the forefront of fusionforskning, aiming to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power on a large scale. While significant progress has been made, widespread commercial fusion power plants are still decades away, requiring further research and development to overcome remaining technical and economic hurdles.