What is Fusion?
Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has gazed skyward, seeking answers among the stars. Now, we stand on the threshold of harnessing their most profound secret - fusion energy. The same process that ignites our sun and countless stars across the cosmos, the merging of atoms to release extraordinary power, promises to transform our world. Fusion represents not just a new energy source, but the key to unlocking humanity's boundless future on Earth and beyond.
How does it work?
Fusion is the process that powers the Sun and stars. It occurs when atoms combine to form heavier elements, releasing enormous amounts of energy in the process.
In the heart of our Sun, hydrogen atoms collide with such force that they merge to create helium. This natural fusion happens at temperatures around 15 million degrees Celsius under the immense pressure of the Sun's gravity.
On Earth, scientists primarily work with two hydrogen isotopes—deuterium and tritium—as fusion fuel. These special forms of hydrogen contain additional neutrons, making them more suitable for fusion reactions.
Creating fusion on Earth presents unique challenges. Without the Sun's gravitational pressure, we must heat our fusion fuel to even higher temperatures—over 100 million degrees Celsius—to overcome the natural repulsion between positively charged atomic nuclei.
At these extreme temperatures, fusion fuel transforms into plasma, the fourth state of matter.
The plasma is confined and pressurized so particles will hit each other and fusion will occur.
The fusion process creates helium, and a free neutron - the energy. We harness this neutron to create heat that will be turned into energy.
The Magnetic Confinement Path To Fusion
To hold plasma heated to 100 million degrees Celcius - we need to keep it in a vacuum vessel, and in the middle, so it won't touch the walls of the vessel (or it will lose heat and the process will stop).
How do we keep the plasma in the middle of the vessel? Using magnets! Plasma consists of electrically charged particles, so it reacts to magnetic fields!
Fusion offers significant advantages over current energy sources. The fuel is virtually limitless, the process produces no greenhouse gases, and fusion reactions cannot run out of control.
When successfully developed, fusion energy could transform global energy production, providing abundant clean power without the long-lived radioactive waste of nuclear fission or the environmental impacts of fossil fuels
The three dimensions we need to control here on Earth in order to create net energy from fusion are:
Density (n), heat (t), and Confinement time (Ƭ) = nt-Ƭao
At nT-Tao, we're working on a compact fusion system. With the technology we are using, we expect to reach a higher temperature, higher density, and shorter confinement time to produce energy. That's our mission.
