Nuclear fusion is expected to provide cheap energy in the future

The US technology giant company, Lockheed Martin claims will have a fusion reactor within five years. Now scientists from the University of Washington said they also are creating a sustainable nuclear fusion.

As a note, today the nuclear fusion is not entirely safe, but much safer than the fusion reactor that is now used to generate electricity. "Fusion reactors can not explode, no radioactive fuel for the long term and could be a source of unlimited energy," said Thomas Jarboe, a professor of physics at the University of Washington.

The new dynomak fusion reactor design could make fusion power cheaper than coal - Pictured of the University of Washington (UOW) Dynomak. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1uMVcJT)

"Do not leave the pollution of the earth, no scars, no radioactive waste or greenhouse gases. Basically, nuclear fusion is the ideal energy source, "said Professor Jarboe. But to start the fusion process requires conditions similar to the surface of the sun but in an enclosed space. Once fusion begins, the reactor will produce large amounts of heat to create steam to run turbines and electric generators.

Scientists experimented with several methods to initiate fusion. One of them is 'tokamak' which is being built in France which will use a powerful magnet to attach a very hot plasma stays in place.

Here’s the tokamak at the JET fusion lab in the UK – a smaller version of the tokamak that will eventually be installed at ITER. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1uMVcJT)

But Professor Jarboe and his team are working on different approaches, which include an electric current to the plasma itself to create a strong magnetic space. "What we found is a way to maintain the electric current is much more efficient than the current method used in tokamaks," said Derek Sunderland, one of the researchers.

Professor Jarboe said the actual size of the reactor building called 'dynomak' requires less material than the tokamak reactor. "It will enable the manufacture of the cheaper reactor because it does not require a lot of walls, and fewer coils that need to be closed," said Thomas Jarboe.

The scientists plan to continue experiments with building larger dynomak reactor that can maintain more efficient plasma flow, and they believe that a sustainable fusion can be achieved in this generation.. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | VOA NEWS | EXTREME TECH]

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