Worlds most complex machine is nearly 50 % complete

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

A vast international experiment designed to demonstrate that nuclear fusion can be a viable source of energy is heading toward completion, the organization behind the project said Wednesday.

Construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, in southern France has been dogged by delays and a surge in costs to about 20 billion euros ($23.7 billion).

ITER's director-general, Bernard Bigot, said the project is on track to begin superheating hydrogen atoms in 2025, a milestone known as 'first plasma.'

ITER is the most complex science project in human history.

The hydrogen plasma will be heated to 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times hotter than the core of the Sun, to enable the fusion reaction.

The process happens in a donut-shaped reactor, called a tokamak,1 which is surrounded by giant magnets that confine and circulate the superheated, ionized plasma, away from the metal walls.

The superconducting magnets must be cooled to minus 269°C, as cold as interstellar space

https://www.iter.org/

 

[AsRock]

23b and the rest, worked on to many construction site's in the passed to know better. Anyways sounds like it could put earth at risk LOL.

Glad it's happening in France 1st ( no were near us ).

 

[Hood]

So they're building a star on Earth. I hope they remember to install an off switch. It would be embarrassing if Earth exploded by accident.

 

[AsRock]

So they're building a star on Earth. I hope they remember to install an off switch. It would be embarrassing if Earth exploded by accident.

Would be a true problem solver.

 

[xkm1948]

Would be a true problem solver.

Very unfair for the rest of the worlds' life forms and a certain percentage of Homo sapiens though.

 

[AsRock]

Very unfair for the rest of the worlds' life forms and a certain percentage of Homo sapiens though.

When did humans start caring for other than them self' ?.

 

[Loosenut]

My biggest worry is if this thing implodes and creates a microscopic black hole

 

[xkm1948]

When did humans start caring for other than them self' ?.

Certain % of human cares a lot. Certain % of human don't give a f*uck. It is always like that.

 

[RejZoR]

My biggest worry is if this thing implodes and creates a microscopic black hole

It doesn't have the mass to achieve this. If anything goes wrong it'll basically just die out like an incandescent bulb that lost vacuum. At worst, the reactor might go bye bye. But it has no radioactive material (it is fueled by hydrogen), so, it's not really an issue.

I sure hope it'll be a success. It's really time we move away from fossil fuels and harness this power instead because it's much cleaner and sustainable than any other power source.

 

[Melvis]

So can the rest of the world just tap in when its completed? lol

 

[Vya Domus]

It doesn't have the mass to achieve this.

That's sort of a common misconception. You don't need astronomical amounts of mass , you just need very high energy density to produce a black hole.

 

[W1zzard]

you just need very high energy density to produce a black hole.

Which you can't achieve with fusion

 

[R0H1T]

It doesn't have the mass to achieve this. If anything goes wrong it'll basically just die out like an incandescent bulb that lost vacuum. At worst, the reactor might go bye bye. But it has no radioactive material (it is fueled by hydrogen), so, it's not really an issue.

I sure hope it'll be a success. It's really time we move away from fossil fuels and harness this power instead because it's much cleaner and sustainable than any other power source.

What if it creates a wormhole or something & leads Thanos straight to earth?

That's sort of a common misconception. You don't need astronomical amounts of mass , you just need very high energy density to produce a black hole.

That's what I thought but I assume controlled fusion won't provide enough energy to create a black hole btw how much energy is required anyway?

 

[W1zzard]

btw how much energy is required anyway?

Depends on whether you believe that micro black holes can be created (which means general relativity is not fully correct).

If you believe in GR, then ~10^16 kg (fermion limits), rougly mass of Deimos (a small moon).
Otherwise no minimum, which would create then micro-black holes. Those micro BHs would evaporate instantly anyway, unless you don't believe in Hawking Radiation either.

 

[TheUninvited]

I am starting to wonder how many homeless people could be saved with this amount of money pff.

 

[Toothless]

I am starting to wonder how many homeless people could be saved with this amount of money pff.

Not many since most would spend it all on booze and questionable substances.

 

[TheUninvited]

Not many since most would spend it all on booze and questionable substances.

Well they do have it rough you know. And who doesn't have an addiction ? Some people drink too much some other people eat too much or smoke too much. They do have their own reason which we cannot understand. But homeless people need help.Actually everybody needs help.

 

[infrared]

But nuclear fusion, if it works as they hope, will help every human, animal and plant on our planet, not just a handful of unfortunate homeless people (who I agree need help, but not at the detriment to such an important project)

 

[Sasqui]

ten times hotter than the core of the Sun, to enable the fusion reaction

So if the sun is one big fusion reactor, why does it need to be 10 times hotter than that? Honest question

 

[infrared]

I know that wasn't directed at me, but I believe it's because of the pressure difference, the sun has a lot of mass trying to crush in on itself, so it takes less heat to get the atoms excited enough to fuse. I don't know what pressure they're using in the reactors here but it'll be a lot less than the core of a star.

 

[Loosenut]

Not many since most would spend it all on booze and questionable substances.

As someone we all know and love once said: "Hookers and blow"

On topic, thanks to all for the black hole explanation. I'll sleep better now knowing I won't get sucked into a black hole anytime soon. At least, not by that reactor anyways...

 

[xorbe]

My biggest worry is if this thing implodes and creates a microscopic black hole

 

[SyWillCry]

So if the sun is one big fusion reactor, why does it need to be 10 times hotter than that? Honest question

The sun is just bigger. More mass = more gravity, therefore it doesn't need to be as hot because gravity helps squash the atoms together

Also, if this thing lost its containment field, the resulting 'explosion' would just be the plasma dissipating outwards, losing energy rapidly. So it wouldn't do much damage to anything other than the facility.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Reading these comments makes me think most people's knowledge of fusion comes from spider man 2.

 

[Sasqui]

Reading these comments makes me think most people's knowledge of fusion comes from spider man 2.

No silly, Tony Stark invented it using a palladuim catalyst!

Seriously, are you into particle and plasma physics?