The University of California San Diego recently upgraded its fusion research facility with the addition of the Poseidon ion beam accelerator, which should reduce the time and cost required to develop and test new materials suitable for lining fusion reactor walls.
According to UC San Diego Today, the addition of Poseidon to the existing experimental infrastructure of the PISCES fusion research laboratory is thanks to a $15 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy.
With Poseidon, researchers from around the country will be able to expose samples of materials to both high-energy ions and fusion plasma simultaneously, something that previously had to be done separately. In this way, what might have been years of testing could possibly turn into mere weeks or months, saving immense time and money on the development of fusion energy and bringing the U.S. a step closer to utilizing this virtually unlimited clean energy source.
UC San Diego professor emeritus in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, George Tynan, explained, according to UC San Diego Today, "The upgraded facility is a huge win for the nation's fusion R&D community. There is still difficult work ahead, but we have an incredible opportunity to help make fusion energy commercially viable."
The result of two light atoms combining to create a heavier one, fusion energy can release incredible amounts of pollution-free energy, which could make it key to diversifying clean energy sources. Less carbon pollution would help cool our planet and reduce pollution-related health problems, as air and water would be cleaner, and fusion could theoretically reduce or eliminate the country's reliance on dirty energy sources while providing incredibly affordable clean energy.
Now, thanks to the upgrade, researchers can not only develop and test materials samples under conditions similar to those in a fusion energy reactor, but also develop materials capable of withstanding pulses of high-energy neutrons, like those produced during inertial fusion reactions.
The Poseidon device works by creating ions, then hurling them across the lab at over 620 miles per second at energies of millions of electron volts. Once these ions have reached about two-thirds of the way across, they encounter a magnetic field that steers them into a plasma chamber containing a materials sample. Once that occurs, researchers can study how the material interacts with and reacts to the high-energy ions and plasma, all at once.
While the addition of Poseidon to this facility may hasten the widespread use of fusion energy, providing cleaner, cheaper, and virtually unlimited energy, there are still concerns that come with the use of nuclear energy. How to safely store nuclear waste and the high costs of building nuclear power plants are just two significant concerns that may slow the growth of this industry.
However, considering fusion energy's potential uses and its ability to provide massive amounts of clean energy, create new jobs, reduce pollution, support energy security, and make utilities more affordable, the pros may well outweigh the cons.
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