Feb 18, 2023 20:00:00

When will the dream energy 'nuclear fusion power generation' finally be put into practical use?

Many people say, 'I was surprised at the high electricity bill the next month when I turned on the heater because I couldn't stand the cold in the room.' In addition,

it is reported that electric power companies will raise electricity prices in the spring of 2023, and it is expected that energy prices will continue to put pressure on household budgets worldwide. Meanwhile, science media Nautilus asked an expert about when nuclear fusion power generation, which is expected to be a cheap and stable next-generation energy, will supply electricity to ordinary households.

When Will Fusion Energy Light Our Homes? - Nautilus
https://nautil.us/when-will-fusion-energy-light-our-homes-259169/

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States announced in December 2022 that ``we succeeded in obtaining more energy than we put in'' in a nuclear fusion reaction experiment conducted at the National Ignition Facility . Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory positions this achievement as an ``important scientific breakthrough for decades'', which demonstrated that ``ignition'', which is essential for the practical application of nuclear fusion, is possible.

Announced that the Ministry of Energy has officially confirmed 'ignition' by achieving output exceeding energy input in nuclear fusion experiment - GIGAZINE

'We were happy to hear that the goal of fusion ignition had been achieved, but the public response seemed a bit off,' said Culham of the British Atomic Energy Authority. My name is Thomas Nicholas, a climate scientist who has been involved in nuclear fusion research at the Fusion Energy Center.

According to Mr. Nicholas, the National Ignition Facility was created to demonstrate ignition as the name suggests, and the achievement of the ignition goal is 10 years behind the original schedule. For that reason, he seems to have received an ironic feeling that headlines such as `` Realization of ignition accelerates the path to nuclear fusion '' made the net and papers busy.

Mr. Nicholas points out that the meaning of ``the time when facilities that generate electricity by nuclear fusion appear'' and ``the time when fusion power generation spreads on a large scale around the world'' is a topic related to the spread of nuclear fusion. I pointed out that it is often overlooked in

by Técnico Lisboa

For example, solar panels and wind power generators can be installed in a short period of time, but they have a short lifespan, so they are quickly replaced with new ones as soon as they break. Nicholas describes this as 'high replacement rate'. The short life of equipment also makes it easier to scale up, since many factories are built for production. In other words, it can be said that the speed of scale-up is determined by the replacement rate.

Contrary to renewables, fusion power is a huge infrastructure project that requires large construction costs and requires long-term planning to be profitable, resulting in low replacement rates. increase. Therefore, it is thought that the global spread of nuclear fusion power generation will be quite slow.

Specifically, it is estimated that the time difference between the appearance of the first fusion power plant and the creation of many fusion power plants around the world is about 50 years. In other words, assuming that the first full-scale fusion power generation will appear around 2040 to 2050, it will be around 2100 that fusion power will spread worldwide.

From this point of view, Mr. Nicholas said, ``If you ask, 'When will 10% or 20% of a country's electricity be covered by nuclear fusion?' The answer is 2100.'' bottom.