But a common line regarding fusion electricity production is that it is always 20 years away.
We are anuclear physicistand anuclear engineerwho study how to develop controlled nuclear fusion for the purpose of generating electricity.
The JET result demonstrates remarkable advancements in the understanding of the physics of fusion.
A fusion power plant would capture the escaping particles and use their energy to generate electricity.
There are a fewdifferent ways to safely control fusion on Earth.
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Normal hydrogen has one proton and no neutrons in its nucleus.
Deuterium has one proton and one neutron while tritium has one proton and two neutrons.
This creates plasma a collection of positive ions and electrons.
Magnetic field lines wrapping around the inside of the donut act liketrain tracks that the ions and electrons follow.
When this happens, they release energy,primarily in the form of fast-moving neutrons.
This pumps out the diverted particles and removes any excess heat to protect the tokamak.
The JET magnetic fusion experiment is the largest tokamak in the world.
The divertor wall is the first consideration.
Around 2011, engineers at JET upgraded the divertor and inner vessel walls to tungsten.
The inner vessel wall of the tokamak was upgraded from graphite to beryllium.
JET is a successful proof of concept for how to build the next generation of fusion reactors.
But there are also some key differences.
First, ITER is massive.
ITER will provide an enormous leap forward toward the goal of industrial scale fusion power plants.
