Timeline of nuclear fusion
Encyclopedia
Timeline of significant events in the study and use of nuclear fusion
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Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
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- 1929 - AtkinsonRobert d'Escourt AtkinsonRobert d'Escourt Atkinson was a British astronomer, physicist and inventor.-Biography:...
and HoutermansFritz HoutermansFriedrich Georg "Fritz" Houtermans was a Dutch-Austrian-German atomic and nuclear physicist born in Zoppot near Danzig, West Prussia...
used the measured masses of low-mass elements and applied Einstein'sAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
discovery that E=mc2 to predict that large amounts of energy could be released by fusingNuclear fusionNuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
small nuclei together http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/f/fowler-fusion.html. - 1932 - Mark OliphantMark OliphantSir Marcus 'Mark' Laurence Elwin Oliphant, AC, KBE, FRS was an Australian physicist and humanitarian who played a fundamental role in the first experimental demonstration of nuclear fusion and also the development of the atomic bomb.During his retirement, Oliphant was appointed as the Governor of...
discovered helium 3 and tritiumTritiumTritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...
, and that heavy hydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
nuclei could be made to react with each other. - 1939 - Hans BetheHans BetheHans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and...
shows how fusion powers the stars in work which won him the 1967 Nobel Prize in physicsNobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
- Peter Thonemann develops a detailed plan for a pinchPinch (plasma physics)A pinch is the compression of an electrically conducting filament by magnetic forces. The conductor is usually a plasma, but could also be a solid or liquid metal...
device, but is told to do other work for his thesis
- Peter Thonemann develops a detailed plan for a pinch
- 1941 - Enrico FermiEnrico FermiEnrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
proposed the idea of using a (still hypothetical) fission weapon to initiate nuclear fusion in a mass of hydrogen to Edward TellerEdward TellerEdward Teller was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb," even though he did not care for the title. Teller made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy , and surface physics...
. Teller became enthusiastic about the idea and worked on it (unsuccessfully) throughout the Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
. - 1946 - George Paget ThomsonGeorge Paget ThomsonSir George Paget Thomson, FRS was an English physicist and Nobel laureate in physics recognised for his discovery with Clinton Davisson of the wave properties of the electron by electron diffraction.-Biography:...
and Moses BlackmanMoses BlackmanMoses Blackman was a South African-born British crystallographer.His father was a minister of religion, Rev. Joseph Blackman.-Education:...
patent the concept that would become known as the Z-pinchZ-pinchIn fusion power research, the Z-pinch, also known as zeta pinch or Bennett pinch , is a type of plasma confinement system that uses an electrical current in the plasma to generate a magnetic field that compresses it... - 1947 - Thomson, Blackman, Thonemann, Cousins, Ware, Jim Tuck and other meet in Harwell to discuss the pinch approach and plan development
- First kiloampere plasmaPlasma (physics)In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
created by Cousins and Ware at the Imperial College, London, in a doughnut-shaped glass vacuum vessel. Plasmas are unstable and only last fractions of seconds.
- First kiloampere plasma
- 1951 - Edward TellerEdward TellerEdward Teller was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb," even though he did not care for the title. Teller made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy , and surface physics...
and Stanislaw Ulam at Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
develop the Teller-Ulam designTeller-Ulam designThe Teller–Ulam design is the nuclear weapon design concept used in most of the world's nuclear weapons. It is colloquially referred to as "the secret of the hydrogen bomb" because it employs hydrogen fusion, though in most applications the bulk of its destructive energy comes from uranium fission,...
for the hydrogen bomb, allowing for the development of multi-megaton weapons.- Fusion work in the UK is classified after the Klaus FuchsKlaus FuchsKlaus Emil Julius Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the American, British and Canadian atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II...
affair - A press release from ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
claims that their Huemul ProjectHuemul ProjectThe Huemul Project was a secret project proposed by the German scientist of Austrian origin Ronald Richter to the government of Argentina during the first presidency of Juan Domingo Perón....
had produced controlled nuclear fusion. This prompted a wave of responses in other countries, especially the U.S. - Lyman SpitzerLyman SpitzerLyman Strong Spitzer, Jr. was an American theoretical physicist and astronomer best known for his research in star formation, plasma physics, and in 1946, for conceiving the idea of telescopes operating in outer space...
dismisses the Argentinian claims, but while thinking about it comes up with the stellaratorStellaratorA stellarator is a device used to confine a hot plasma with magnetic fields in order to sustain a controlled nuclear fusion reaction. It is one of the earliest controlled fusion devices, first invented by Lyman Spitzer in 1950 and built the next year at what later became the Princeton Plasma...
concept. Funding is arranged under Project Matterhorn and develops into the Princeton Plasma Physics LaboratoryPrinceton Plasma Physics LaboratoryPrinceton Plasma Physics Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science located on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro Township, New Jersey. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an...
. - Tuck introduces the British pinch work to Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
(LANL). He develops the PerhapsatronPerhapsatronThe Perhapsatron was an early fusion power device based on the pinch concept. Dreamt up by James Tuck while working at Los Alamos National Laboratory , he named the device whimsically on the off chance that it might be able to create fusion reactions.The first example was built in the winter of...
under the codename Project SherwoodProject SherwoodProject Sherwood was the codename for a United States program in controlled nuclear fusion. It was funded under the Atoms for Peace initiative during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower...
. (Some people claimed that the project was named Sherwood based on Friar Tuck. This claim is corroborated in a brief biographical sketch written by Tuck )
- Fusion work in the UK is classified after the Klaus Fuchs
- 1952 - Cousins and Ware build a larger toroidal pinchPinch (plasma physics)A pinch is the compression of an electrically conducting filament by magnetic forces. The conductor is usually a plasma, but could also be a solid or liquid metal...
device in England, and demonstrated that instabilities in the plasma make pinch devices inherently unstable.- Ivy MikeIvy MikeIvy Mike was the codename given to the first United States test of a thermonuclear weapon, in which a major part of the explosive yield came from nuclear fusion. It was detonated on November 1, 1952 by the United States at on Enewetak, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, as part of Operation Ivy...
shot of Operation IvyOperation IvyOperation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after Tumbler-Snapper and before Upshot-Knothole. Its purpose was to help upgrade the U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons in response to the Soviet nuclear weapons program...
: The first detonation of a hydrogen bomb, yield 10.4 megatons of TNT out of a fusion fuel of liquid deuterium.
- Ivy Mike
- 1953 - pinch devices in the US and USSR attempted to take the reactions to fusion levels without worrying about stability. Both reported detections of neutronNeutronThe neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
s, which were later explained as non-fusion in nature. - 1954 - Construction of the ZETA device started at Harwell, it is the largest fusion device for some time.
- Edward TellerEdward TellerEdward Teller was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb," even though he did not care for the title. Teller made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy , and surface physics...
gives a now-famous speech on plasma stability in magnetic bottles at the Princeton Gun Club. His work suggests that most magnetic bottles are inherently unstable.
- Edward Teller
- 1956 - Experimental research of tokamakTokamakA tokamak is a device using a magnetic field to confine a plasma in the shape of a torus . Achieving a stable plasma equilibrium requires magnetic field lines that move around the torus in a helical shape...
systems started at Kurchatov InstituteKurchatov InstituteThe Kurchatov Institute is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear energy. In the Soviet Union it was known as I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy , abbreviated KIAE . It is named after Igor Kurchatov....
, MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
by a group of Soviet scientists led by Lev ArtsimovichLev ArtsimovichLev Andreevich Artsimovich was a Soviet physicist, academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , member of the Presidium of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , and Hero of Socialist Labor .- Academic research :Artsimovich worked on the...
.- Artsimovich gives a talk at Harwell on pinch devices, revealing for the first time that the USSR is also working on fusion. He details the problems they are seeing, mirroring those in the US and UK.
- in the wake of the Artsimovich speech, the US and UK begin to consider releasing their own data. Eventually they settle on a release prior to the 2nd Atoms for PeaceAtoms for Peace"Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953....
conference in GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
- 1957 - Initial results in ZETA appear to suggest the machine has successfully reached basic fusion temperatures. UK researchers start pressing for public release, while the US demurs
- 1958 - the US and UK release large amounts of data in February, with the ZETA team claiming fusion. Other researchers, notably Artsimovich, are skeptical
- major displays and information releases at the Atoms for Peace conference. It becomes clear that basic pinch concepts are not successful.
- 1958 - American, British and Soviet scientists began to share previously classified fusion research, as their countries declassified controlled fusion work as part of the Atoms for PeaceAtoms for Peace"Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953....
conference in GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
in September. It is the largest international scientific meeting to date. - 1961 - The Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
test the most powerful hydrogen bomb, the Tsar BombaTsar BombaTsar Bomba is the nickname for the AN602 hydrogen bomb, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. It was also referred to as Kuz'kina Mat , in this usage meaning "something that has not been seen before"....
(50 megatons). - 1965 (approximate) - The 12-beam "4 pi laser" using ruby as the lasing medium is developed at LLNL includes a gas-filled target chamber of about 20 centimeters in diameter.
- 1967 - Demonstration of Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor appeared to generate neutrons in a nuclear reaction.
- 1968 - Results from the T-3 Soviet magnetic confinement device, called a tokamakTokamakA tokamak is a device using a magnetic field to confine a plasma in the shape of a torus . Achieving a stable plasma equilibrium requires magnetic field lines that move around the torus in a helical shape...
, which Igor TammIgor TammIgor Yevgenyevich Tamm was a Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate who received most prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Ilya Frank, for the discovery of Cherenkov radiation, made in 1934.-Biography:Tamm was born in Vladivostok, Russian Empire , in a...
and Andrei SakharovAndrei SakharovAndrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
had been working on - showed the temperatures in their machine to be over an order of magnitude higher than what was expected by the rest of the community. The Western scientists visited the experiment and verified the high temperatures and confinement, sparking a wave of optimism for the prospects of the tokamak, which is still the dominant magnetic confinement device today, as well as construction of new experiments. - 1970 - - Kapchinskii and Teplyakov conceive the “The ion linear accelerator with space-uniform strong focusing”. Demonstrated in 1979 at LANL, and named the radiofrequency quadrupole accelerator (RFQ). The concept increases the ion beam current that can be accelerated at low beta. This will be important for ICF drivers using high-energy heavy ions (HIF).
- 1972 - The first neodymium-dopedDoping (semiconductor)In semiconductor production, doping intentionally introduces impurities into an extremely pure semiconductor for the purpose of modulating its electrical properties. The impurities are dependent upon the type of semiconductor. Lightly and moderately doped semiconductors are referred to as extrinsic...
glass (Nd:glass) laser for ICF research, the "Long Path laserLong path laserThe Long Path laser was an early high energy infrared laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used to study inertial confinement fusion. Long path was completed in 1972 and was the first ICF laser ever to use neodymium doped glass as the lasing medium. It was capable of delivering about...
" is completed at LLNL and is capable of delivering ~50 joules to a fusion target. - 1974 - Taylor re-visited ZETA results of 1958 and explained that the quiet-period was in fact very interesting. This led to the development of reversed field pinchReversed field pinchA reversed-field pinch is a device used to produce and contain near-thermonuclear plasmas. It is a toroidal pinch which uses a unique magnetic field configuration as a scheme to magnetically confine a plasma, primarily to study magnetic fusion energy. Its magnetic geometry is somewhat different...
, now generalized as "self-organizing plasmas", an ongoing line of research.- Construction completes and inertial confinement fusionInertial confinement fusionInertial confinement fusion is a process where nuclear fusion reactions are initiated by heating and compressing a fuel target, typically in the form of a pellet that most often contains a mixture of deuterium and tritium....
experiments begin on the two beam Janus laserJanus laserThe Janus laser was a two beam infrared neodymium doped silica glass laser built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1974 for the study of inertial confinement fusion. Janus was built using about 100 pounds of Nd:glass laser material...
at the Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryLawrence Livermore National LaboratoryThe Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
.
- Construction completes and inertial confinement fusion
- 1974 - On May 1, KMS Fusion (a private company founded by Kip Siegel) carried out the world's first successful laser-induced fusion in a deuterium-tritium pellet, the evidence for which was provided by neutron-sensitive nuclear emulsion detectors developed by Robert HofstadterRobert HofstadterRobert Hofstadter was an American physicist. He was the joint winner of the 1961 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his consequent discoveries concerning the structure of nucleons."-Biography :Born in New York City, he entered City...
. - 1975 - Heavy Ion Beams using mature high-energy accelerator technology hailed as the elusive “brand-X” laser capable of driving fusion implosions for commercial power. The Livingston Curve from Stanford SLAC Educ. Group modified to show the energy needed for fusion to occur. Experiments commence on the single beam LLNL Cyclops laserCyclops laserCyclops was a high-power laser built at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1975. It was the second laser constructed in the lab's Laser program, which aimed to study inertial confinement fusion ....
, testing new optical designs for future ICF lasers. - 1976 - Workshop, called by the US-ERDA (now DOE) at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, CA for an ad hoc two-week summer study. Fifty senior scientists from the major US ICF programs and accelerator laboratories participated, and program heads and a sprinkling of Nobel Prize laureates also attended. In the closing address, Dr. C. Martin Stickley, then Director of ERDA’s Office of Inertial Fusion, announced the conclusion was “no showstoppers” on the road to fusion energy. ** Design work on JETJoint European TorusJET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
, the Joint European Torus, began. ** The two beam Argus laserArgus laserArgus was a two-beam high power infrared neodymium doped silica glass laser with a output aperture built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1976 for the study of inertial confinement fusion...
is completed at LLNL and experiments involving more advanced laser-target interactions are begun. - 1977 - The 20 beam Shiva laserShiva laserThe Shiva laser was a powerful 20-beam infrared neodymium glass laser built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1977 for the study of inertial confinement fusion and long-scale-length laser-plasma interactions. The device was named after the multi-armed form of the Hindu god Shiva, due...
at LLNL is completed and is capable of delivering 10.2 kilojoules of infrared energy on target. At a price of $25 million and a size approaching that of a football field, the Shiva laser is the first of the "megalasers" at LLNL and brings the field of ICF research fully within the realm of "big scienceBig ScienceBig Science is a term used by scientists and historians of science to describe a series of changes in science which occurred in industrial nations during and after World War II, as scientific progress increasingly came to rely on large-scale projects usually funded by national governments or groups...
". - 1978 - The JETJoint European TorusJET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
project was given the go-ahead by then ECEuropean CommissionThe European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. The chosen site was an ex-RAFRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
airfield south east of OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, UK. **
- 1979 - LANL successfully demonstrates the radio frequency quadrupole accelerator (RFQ). ANL and Hughes Research Laboratories demonstrate required ion source brightness with xenon beam at 1.5MeV. Foster Panel reports to USDoE’s Energy Research and Advisory Board that HIF is the “conservative approach” to fusion power. Listing HIF’s advantages in his report to ERAB in 1979, John Foster remarked: “…now that is kind of exciting.” After DoE Office of Inertial Fusion completed review of programs, Director Gregory Canavan decided to accelerate the HIF effort.
- 1982 - HIBALL study by German and US institutions uses the high repetition rate of the RF accelerator driver to serve four reactor chambers and first-wall protection using liquid lithium inside the chamber cavity. Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung; Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching; Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Garching. **Tore SupraTore SupraTore Supra is a French tokamak that began operating after the discontinuation of TFR and of Petula...
construction was started at CadaracheCadaracheThe CEA Cadarache facility is a French scientific research centre which specialises in nuclear energy research. It is located in the commune of Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, Bouches-du-Rhône, in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur...
, France. Its superconductingSuperconductivitySuperconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance occurring in certain materials below a characteristic temperature. It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum...
magnets permitted it to generate a strong permanent toroidal magnetic field. http://www-drfc.cea.fr/gb/cea/ts/ts.htm - 1983 - JETJoint European TorusJET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
was completed on time and on budget. First plasmas achieved.- The NOVETTE laserNovette laserNovette was a two beam neodymium glass testbed laser built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in about 15 months throughout 1981 and 1982 and was completed in January 1983. Novette was made using recycled parts from the dismantled Shiva and Argus lasers and borrowed parts from the future...
at LLNL comes on line and is used as a test bed for the next generation of ICF lasers, specifically the NOVA laserNova laserNova was a high-power laser built at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1984 which conducted advanced inertial confinement fusion experiments until its dismantling in 1999. Nova was the first ICF experiment built with the intention of reaching "ignition", a chain reaction of nuclear...
.
- The NOVETTE laser
- 1984 - The huge 10 beam NOVA laserNova laserNova was a high-power laser built at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1984 which conducted advanced inertial confinement fusion experiments until its dismantling in 1999. Nova was the first ICF experiment built with the intention of reaching "ignition", a chain reaction of nuclear...
at LLNL is completed and switches on in December. NOVA would ultimately produce a maximum of 120 kilojoules of infrared laser light during a nanosecond pulse in a 1989 experiment. - 1985 - National Academy of Sciences reviewed military ICF programs, noting HIF’s major advantages clearly but averring that HIF was “supported primarily by other [than military] programs”. The review of ICF by the National Academy of Sciences marked the trend with the observation: “The energy crisis is dormant for the time being.” Energy is the sole purpose of heavy ion fusion. **The Japanese tokamak, JT-60JT-60JT-60 is the flagship of Japan's magnetic fusion program, previously run by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and currently run by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's Naka Fusion Institute in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan...
was completed. First plasmas achieved. - 1988 - The T-15, Soviet tokamak with superconducting helium-cooled coils was completed. **The Conceptual Design Activity for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
), the successor to T-15, TFTR, JETJoint European TorusJET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
and JT-60JT-60JT-60 is the flagship of Japan's magnetic fusion program, previously run by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and currently run by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's Naka Fusion Institute in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan...
, began. Participants were EURATOM, Japan, Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and United States. It ended in 1990. *** The first plasma was produced in Tore SupraTore SupraTore Supra is a French tokamak that began operating after the discontinuation of TFR and of Petula...
in April. http://www-drfc.cea.fr/gb/cea/ts/ts.htm - 1989 - On March 23, two UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
electrochemists, Stanley PonsStanley PonsBobby Stanley Pons is an American-French electrochemist known for his work with Martin Fleischmann on cold fusion in the 1980s and '90s.-Early life:...
and Martin FleischmannMartin FleischmannMartin Fleischmann is a British chemist noted for his work in electrochemistry. He came to wider public prominence following his controversial publication of work with colleague Stanley Pons on cold fusion using palladium in the 1980s and '90s.-Early life:Born in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia,...
, announced that they had achieved cold fusionCold fusionCold fusion, also called low-energy nuclear reaction , refers to the hypothesis that nuclear fusion might explain the results of a group of experiments conducted at ordinary temperatures . Both the experimental results and the hypothesis are disputed...
: fusion reactions which could occur at room temperatures. However, they made their announcements before any peer review of their work was performed, and no subsequent experiments by other researchers revealed any evidence of fusion. - 1990 - Decision to construct the NIFNational Ignition FacilityThe National Ignition Facility, or NIF is a large, laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. NIF uses powerful lasers to heat and compress a small amount of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion...
"beamlet" laser at LLNL is made. - 1991 - The STARTSmall Tight Aspect Ratio TokamakThe Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak, or START was a nuclear fusion experiment that used magnetic confinement to hold plasma. The experiment began at the Culham Science Centre in the United Kingdom in 1991 and was retired in 1998. It was built as a low cost design, largely using parts already...
Tokamak fusion experiment began in CulhamCulhamCulham is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Thames, just over south of Abingdon in Oxfordshire.-Manor:The toponym comes from the Old English Cula's hamm, referring to the village's position in a bend of the Thames...
. The experiment would eventually achieve a record beta (plasma pressure compared to magnetic field pressure) of 40% using a neutral beam injector. It was the first design that adapted the conventional toroidal fusion experiments into a tighter spherical design. - 1992 - The Engineering Design Activity for the ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
began. Participants were EURATOM, Japan, Russia and United States. It ended in 2001. **The last nuclear bomb testing - 1993 - The TFTR tokamak at PrincetonPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(PPPL) experimented with 50% deuteriumDeuteriumDeuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen. It has a natural abundance in Earth's oceans of about one atom in of hydrogen . Deuterium accounts for approximately 0.0156% of all naturally occurring hydrogen in Earth's oceans, while the most common isotope ...
, 50% tritiumTritiumTritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...
, eventually producing as much as 10 megawatts of power from a controlled fusion reaction. - 1994 - NIF Beamlet laser is complete and begins experiments validating the expected performance of NIF. **The USA declassifies information about indirectly-driven (hohlraum) target design. Comprehensive European-based study of HIF driver begins, centered at the Gesellshaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) and involving 14 laboratories, including USA and Russia. The Heavy Ion Driven Inertial Fusion (HIDIF) study will be completed in 1997.
- 1996 - A record was reached at Tore SupraTore SupraTore Supra is a French tokamak that began operating after the discontinuation of TFR and of Petula...
: a plasma duration of two minutes with a current of almost 1 million amperes driven non-inductively by 2.3 MW of lower hybrid frequency wavesLower hybrid oscillationA lower hybrid oscillation is a longitudinal oscillation of ions and electrons in a magnetized plasma. The direction of propagation must be very nearly perpendicular to the stationary magnetic field, within about √ radians...
(i.e. 280 MJ of injected and extracted energy). This result was possible due to the actively cooled plasma-facing components installed in the machine. This result opened the way to the active control of steady state plasma discharges and the associated physics. http://www-drfc.cea.fr/gb/cea/ts/ts.htm - 1997 - The JETJoint European TorusJET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
tokamak in the UK produced 16 MW of fusion power - the current world record for fusion power. Four megawatts of alpha particleAlpha particleAlpha particles consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium nucleus, which is classically produced in the process of alpha decay, but may be produced also in other ways and given the same name...
self-heating was achieved. **LLNL study compared projected costs of power from ICF and other fusion approaches to the projected future costs of existing energy sources. HIF power was estimated to cost slightly more than natural gas and slightly less than a next generation fission plant, without exploiting HIF’s ability to drive multiple fusion power chambers. **Groundbreaking ceremony held for the National Ignition FacilityNational Ignition FacilityThe National Ignition Facility, or NIF is a large, laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. NIF uses powerful lasers to heat and compress a small amount of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion...
(NIF). **Combining a field-reversed pinch with an imploding magnetic cylinder resulted in the new Magnetized Target Fusion concept in the U.S.. In this system a "normal" lower density plasma device was explosively squeezed using techniques developed for high-speed gun research. - 1998 - The JT-60JT-60JT-60 is the flagship of Japan's magnetic fusion program, previously run by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and currently run by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's Naka Fusion Institute in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan...
tokamak in Japan produced a high performance reversed shear plasma with the equivalent fusion amplification factor
of 1.25 - the current world record of QFusion energy gain factorThe fusion energy gain factor, usually expressed with the symbol Q, is the ratio of fusion power produced in a nuclear fusion reactor to the power required to maintain the plasma in steady state. The condition of Q = 1 is referred to as breakeven.In a fusion power reactor a plasma must be...
. **Results of European-based study of heavy ion driven fusion power system (HIDIF, GSI-98-06) incorporates telescoping beams of multiple isotopic species. This technique multiplies the 6-D phase space usable for the design of HIF drivers. **Results of European-based study of heavy ion driven fusion power system (HIDIF, GSI-98-06) incorporates telescoping beams of multiple isotopic species. This technique multiplies the 6-D phase space usable for the design of HIF drivers. - 1999 - The United States withdraw from the ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
project.- The STARTSmall Tight Aspect Ratio TokamakThe Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak, or START was a nuclear fusion experiment that used magnetic confinement to hold plasma. The experiment began at the Culham Science Centre in the United Kingdom in 1991 and was retired in 1998. It was built as a low cost design, largely using parts already...
Experiment was succeeded by MASTMega Ampere Spherical TokamakThe Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak, or MAST experiment is a nuclear fusion experiment in operation at Culham, Oxfordshire, England since December 1999. It follows the highly successful START experiment...
.
- The START
- 2001 - Building construction for the immense 192-beam 500-terawatt NIFNational Ignition FacilityThe National Ignition Facility, or NIF is a large, laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. NIF uses powerful lasers to heat and compress a small amount of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion...
project is completed and construction of laser beamlines and target bay diagnostics commences. The NIFNational Ignition FacilityThe National Ignition Facility, or NIF is a large, laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. NIF uses powerful lasers to heat and compress a small amount of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion...
is expected to take its first full system shot in 2010. **Negotiations Meeting on the Joint Implementation of ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
begins. Participants were Canada, European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, Japan and Russia. - 2002 - Claims and counter-claims were published regarding bubble fusionBubble fusionBubble fusion, also known as sonofusion, is the non-technical name for a nuclear fusion reaction hypothesized to occur during a high-pressure version of sonoluminescence, an extreme form of acoustic cavitation...
, in which a table-top apparatus was reported as producing small-scale fusion in a liquid undergoing acoustic cavitation. Like cold fusion, it was later dismissed. **European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
proposed CadaracheCadaracheThe CEA Cadarache facility is a French scientific research centre which specialises in nuclear energy research. It is located in the commune of Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, Bouches-du-Rhône, in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur...
in France and VandellosVandellòs*Vandellòs town*Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant municipality*Vandellòs Nuclear Power Plant...
in Spain as candidate sites for ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
while Japan proposed Rokkasho. - 2003 - The United States rejoined the ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
project, and China and Republic of Korea newly joined while Canada withdrew. - 2003 - CadaracheCadaracheThe CEA Cadarache facility is a French scientific research centre which specialises in nuclear energy research. It is located in the commune of Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, Bouches-du-Rhône, in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur...
in France selected as the European Candidate Site for ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
.- Sandia National LaboratoriesSandia National LaboratoriesThe Sandia National Laboratories, managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation , are two major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratories....
began fusion experiments in the Z machineZ machineThe Z machine is the largest X-ray generator in the world and is designed to test materials in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure. Operated by Sandia National Laboratories, it gathers data to aid in computer modeling of nuclear weapons...
.
- Sandia National Laboratories
- 2004 - The United States dropped its own projects, recognizing inability to match EU progress (Fusion Ignition Research Experiment (FIRE)), to focus resources on ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
. - 2005 - Following final negotiations between the EU and Japan, ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
chose CadaracheCadaracheThe CEA Cadarache facility is a French scientific research centre which specialises in nuclear energy research. It is located in the commune of Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, Bouches-du-Rhône, in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur...
over Rokkasho for the site of the reactor. In concession, Japan was made the host site for a related materials research facility and was granted rights to fill 20% of the project's research posts while providing 10% of the funding. **The NIFNational Ignition FacilityThe National Ignition Facility, or NIF is a large, laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. NIF uses powerful lasers to heat and compress a small amount of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion...
fires its first bundle of eight beams achieving the highest ever energy laser pulse of 152.8 kJ (infrared). - 2006 - China's EASTEASTThe Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak is an experimental superconducting tokamak magnetic fusion energy reactor in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province, in eastern China. The experiment is being conducted by the Hefei-based Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of...
test reactor is completed, the first tokamak experiment to use superconducting magnets to generate both the toroidal and poloidal fields. - 2008 - Single Pass HIF patent applied for by Robert Burke, USA
- 2009 - Construction of the NIFNational Ignition FacilityThe National Ignition Facility, or NIF is a large, laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. NIF uses powerful lasers to heat and compress a small amount of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion...
reported as complete. **Ricardo Betti the third Under Secretary, responsible for Nuclear Energy, testified before Congress: “IFE [ICF for energy production] has no home”. - 2010 - HIF-2010 Symposium in Darmstadt Germany. Robert J Burke presented on Single Pass HIF and Charles Helsley made a presentation on the commercialization of HIF within the decade.
- 2011 - May 23-26, Workshop for Accelerators for Heavy Ion Fusion at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, presentation by Robert J. Burke on "Single Pass Heavy Ion Fusion".
External links
- Fusion experiments from the British Science Museum
- International Fusion Research Council, Status report on fusion research, Nuclear Fusion 45:10A, October 2005.