ITER

Name Panagopoulos George

E-mail papageorge@edu.physics.uoc.gr

Instructors

1. Maria Pitsaki 2. Vasilis Charmandaris

Foundation University of Crete

Department Physics

Contents

Energy needs

What is ITER

What is fusionConditions to make fusion

Fusion’s Safety

Lights on the earth at night

2 billion people

Do not have access to the electricity

Vast needs in the industrialized world.

Fossil fuels

Alternative ways of energy production

The current reactors

ITER a larger project

Structure of the atom

• The nucleus of an atom is comprised by neutrons and protons.

• Isotopes are the components that have the same number of protons

Einstein’s Equation : ΔΕ=Δm c2

Light nucleus Heavy nucleus

Mass defect

Mass and energy

Fusion

Fusion in ITER

• Deuterium is a common isotope of hydrogen made by sea water.

• Tritium is an other rare isotope of hydrogen. We can produce it from the following reaction.

6Li + n → 4He +T

The most efficient reaction

Cro

ss s

ecti

on

Cross section is the probability of the reaction to happen

Conditions for fusion

In order the particles to acquire

Energy and collide we heat them

in grate temperatures (150.000.000 oC). Thus they

exist in a state called plasma

where they have lost all their ele-

Ctrons.

For the reason why there is not a material than may hold these temperatures we use magnetic field to control the individual charges inside plasma in a process called magnetic confinement.

Magnetic confinement

• The main method to make magnetic confinement, is to pass current through plasma and create an incoming magnetic force.

• Because of the plasma’s instabilities we also use an additional toroidal magnetic field.

The plasma may be heated by its self. The helium nuclei that remain from the reaction offer energy to the other particles inside the reactor by collisions.

Moreover we have three additional mechanisms for this procedure : Ohmic heating where the current that passes trough plasma

heats it like the a lamp during its operation. Neutral beam injection where neutral particles are injected

inside the reactor and give energy to the particles via collisions.

Radiofrequency heating where we the plasma in the same way that we heat our food in a microwave oven.

Plasma heating

ITER ’s Safety

Except from tritium we do not have any radioactive materials inside the reactor.

Any second inside the reactor there is less than a gram of fuel . The reaction can not continue unless we have fuel.

After keeping in safety the components of the installation for 100 they are as radioactive as a plant that produces energy from coal.

Books

Garry McCracken-Peter Strott, Fusion, the Energy of Universe ELSEVIER Academic press, Complementary Science Series, Copyright © 2005 ISBN: 0-12-481851-X.

WebPages

www.iter.org www.efda.org www.jet.efda.org www-fusion-magnetique.cea.fr

Thank you !

In order to heat the plasma we have to use a Specific type of RadiofrequencyFor each kind of particle

Electron Hybrid

Frequency

8 GHz

Electron CyclotronFrequency

200 GHz

Ion CyclotronFrequency

70 MHz