Context
Recently, Scientists in the United Kingdom said they have achieved a new milestone in producing nuclear fusion energy, or imitating the way energy is produced in the sun.
- The record and scientific data from these crucial experiments are a major boost for ITER.
About Nuclear Fusion
- Nuclear fusion is defined as the combining of several small nuclei into one large nucleus with the subsequent release of huge amounts of energy.
- Nuclear fusion powers our sun and harnessing this fusion energy could provide an unlimited amount of renewable energy.
About Nuclear Fission
- Fission is the process of splitting a nucleus in two.
- Inside each uranium fuel pellet, there are millions of uranium nuclei.
- When these nuclei are split, a huge amount of energy is released.
- Some of this energy is from radiation, but the biggest source is kinetic energy.
- This is the energy that produces heat inside a reactor, which in turn is used to generate steam, and ultimately creates electricity.
About ITER Project
- ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which will be the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment.
- The goal of ITER is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful use.
- The project is funded and run by seven member entities—the European Union, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
- The EU, as host party for the ITER complex, is contributing about 45 per cent of the cost, with the other six parties contributing approximately 9 per cent each.
- Construction of the ITER Tokamak (doughnut-shaped apparatus) complex started in 2013 and the building costs were over US$14 billion by June 2015.
