MVP ARCHIVE HISTORY｜Energy : Energy History EX : ITER / The Fusion Experimental Reactor Humanity is Challenging
The Fusion Experimental Reactor Humanity is Challenging
The sun continues to generate vast amounts of energy through nuclear fusion.
ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is currently under construction with the goal of controlling that phenomenon on Earth and utilizing it for future power generation.
Nuclear fusion is one of the world's largest international joint experimental reactors to demonstrate the technology necessary to put energy into practical use, and it is being built in southern France with the participation of Japan, Europe, the United States, China, South Korea, India, and Russia.
What is ITER?
ITER contains the meaning of " International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ."
ITER's greatest objective is to demonstrate whether nuclear fusion reactions can maintain a fusion output that significantly exceeds the input energy for a long period of time.
This is not commercial power generation, but is positioned as a stage of technical demonstration for future fusion power plants.
Why is the world cooperating?
ITER is a project that is too huge and complex to be built and operated by a single country alone.
The entire device consists of millions of parts and requires many cutting-edge technologies such as superconducting magnets, vacuum technology, cryogenic technology, high-heat-resistant materials, and precision control.
For this reason, it is also one of the world's largest scientific and technological cooperation projects, adopting a method where each participating region manufactures parts while in charge of their respective areas of expertise, and then transports them to France for assembly.
Tokamak Method
ITER adopts the tokamak-type fusion reactor, which is currently the most advanced in research.
Fusion reactor's core technology creates plasma of approximately 150 million degrees Celsius inside a donut-shaped vacuum vessel, confines it while floating it so that it does not touch the vessel using superconducting magnets, and in this ultra-high-temperature plasma, deuterium and tritium fuse to release enormous energy.
Main Components
Vacuum Vessel : A donut-shaped space that confines plasma
Superconducting Magnets : Create a powerful magnetic field to float and control the plasma
Blanket : Receives high-speed neutrons to recover heat, and will produce tritium in the future
Cryostat : A huge vacuum insulation vessel that maintains the superconducting magnets in a cryogenic environment
Radio-frequency heating device / Neutral beam injection heating device : Heats the plasma to the required temperature
Fuel
ITER uses,
・Deuterium
・Tritium
Deuterium is abundantly present in seawater.
Since tritium hardly exists in nature, plans are underway to produce it from lithium in future practical reactors.
ITER will also conduct research to connect this fuel cycle to the future.
The Goal of Q=10
ITER is one of the most important goals
Q = 10
Q indicates the value obtained by dividing the thermal output obtained from nuclear fusion reactions by the energy input for plasma heating.
( * For example, if you can obtain 500MW of fusion output with 50MW of heating energy, it becomes
Q = 10 .)
This is an important indicator that shows not the efficiency as a power plant, but whether the fusion reaction itself is sufficiently established.
Power generation will not be performed.
ITER is a massive fusion reactor, but it is not equipped with facilities to use the heat generated by the fusion reaction to drive steam turbines.
ITER’s purpose is to demonstrate that the fusion reaction can be stably maintained. Based on these results, it is planned to connect to the next stage, the Demonstration Fusion Power Reactor (DEMO).
Bridging to DEMO
ITER is followed by the plan for DEMO. In DEMO, the plan is to use the
fusion reaction to actually generate electricity and verify the technologies necessary for commercial reactors. The goal is to commercialize
fusion power generation through the stages of "Research Reactor → ITER (Experimental Reactor) → DEMO (Demonstration Power Reactor) → Commercial Fusion Power Plant."
Japan's Role
Japan is one of the major participating countries in the ITER project. It is responsible for many important components, such as the manufacturing of superconducting magnets and the development of high-precision equipment. Additionally,
JT-60SA is in operation in Naka City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and research on plasma control and fusion technology is being advanced in parallel with ITER. Japan plays a crucial role in supporting future fusion
technology.
Challenges to Commercialization
ITER succeeding does not mean that a fusion power plant will be completed immediately. Many challenges remain, such as long-term continuous operation, materials that can withstand high-energy neutrons, the production of tritium fuel, equipment maintainability, and construction costs.
ITER is an important step toward solving these one by one.
Aiming for Future Energy
ITER is humanity's first full-scale challenge to utilize "the energy of the sun" on Earth. The data and experience gained through
ITER will be passed on to the next generation of fusion power plants. While it is believed that commercialization will still take time, that is also the reason why countries around the world continue to cooperate from a long-term perspective.
ITER is not only an experimental reactor, but also an international joint project to open up humanity's future energy technology.
Archive Point
ITER is one of the world's largest international joint experimental reactors currently under construction with the goal of commercializing fusion energy.
Using deuterium and tritium as fuel, it aims to confine plasma at approximately 150 million degrees Celsius using superconducting magnets and demonstrate a fusion output (Q=10) that exceeds the input energy.
ITER is an experimental facility designed to establish the necessary technologies for future fusion power plants, and its results are expected to lead to next-generation demonstration reactors (DEMO) and commercial fusion power plants.
