Fuusioreaktorit

Fuusioreaktorit are devices designed to harness the energy released from nuclear fusion reactions. Fusion is the process that powers stars, where light atomic nuclei, such as isotopes of hydrogen like deuterium and tritium, combine under extreme temperature and pressure to form heavier nuclei, releasing vast amounts of energy. Achieving controlled nuclear fusion on Earth has been a long-standing scientific and engineering challenge.

The primary goal of fusion research is to create and sustain a plasma, a superheated state of matter where electrons are stripped from atoms, at temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius. At these temperatures, nuclei have enough kinetic energy to overcome their electrostatic repulsion and fuse. Two main approaches are being pursued to confine and heat this plasma: magnetic confinement and inertial confinement.

Magnetic confinement fusion, exemplified by tokamaks and stellarators, uses powerful magnetic fields to create a "magnetic bottle" that contains the hot plasma, preventing it from touching the reactor walls. Inertial confinement fusion, on the other hand, uses high-powered lasers or particle beams to rapidly heat and compress a small fuel pellet, causing fusion to occur before the pellet can fly apart.

While significant progress has been made, achieving a net energy gain – producing more energy than is consumed to initiate and sustain the reaction – remains a critical milestone. The potential benefits of fusion power include an abundant fuel supply (deuterium from seawater, tritium can be bred from lithium), minimal long-lived radioactive waste, and inherent safety features compared to current nuclear fission reactors. Numerous international projects, such as ITER, are dedicated to advancing fusion technology towards commercial viability.