Japan has launched its FAST merger project. The goal is to generate an unlimited amount of energy by 2030. Part of this is to create a sustainably burning plasma.
FAST stands for Fusion by Advanced Superconducting Tokamak and exists to develop an integrated fusion system that produces electricity and fuel. There are still many technical challenges in the field of commercial nuclear fusion and FAST is a process to put the final pieces of the puzzle together.
FAST
How? By using so-called high-temperature superconducting coils: high-temperature superconducting coils that, in combination with low aspect ratio tokamak, generate high-pressure plasmas. These plasmas are available in a small size to shorten production time. This also reduces costs.
FAST is not just a Japanese project: many countries participate in it, as well as private companies and government organizations. It is a major project where, in addition to the plasma and energy, ensuring safety is also important. The system is aimed at a power of 50 MW to 100 MW and a fusion fire discharge duration of 1000 seconds. The device must ultimately be able to run at full power for 1000 hours.
Burning plasma
“FAST is a device designed to perform extensive technical testing related to fusion plasmas and power generation. It will contribute not only to prototype development in Japan, but also to the safe and accelerated advancement of various fusion approaches around the world,” the project team said. A design will be made in 2025 by plasma researchers and power plant technicians. Financing and regulations must also be thoroughly examined. A decision is then made about its feasibility.
Many successes have already been achieved in the field of nuclear fusion this year, including recently by the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, but we are still far from there and FAST must play an important role in this.
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Source: www.bright.nl
