A portion of this video is
brought to you by Surfshark. “Woah …. Woah! This is massive!”
“Welcome to the JET tokamak” Getting to see the JET tokamak fusion reactor
in person was an eye-opening experience, but not in the way you might expect. What
I got to see during my time at the Culham Science Center in the UK went well beyond
what JET is doing. There’s a whole ecosystem that’s needed to support a future fusion
industry, and the UK government is really pushing every aspect of that. There’s
a lot of buzz around fusion startups, but for any of this to work, it’s going to take
a holistic view to address the many challenges around it. So what’s that going to take? And
… what's it like to stand inside a tokamak? I’m Matt Ferrell … welcome to Undecided. The old joke is that fusion energy
is always 30 years away, however, it’s long running experiments like
JET that have helped to push our understanding of fusion forward and make
major advances over the past few decades. Just a couple of years ago it set the
record for longest sustained energy. The whole reason I make these videos is
to share my excitement and interest in technology … in what humanity is capable
of when we put our collective minds to a very difficult problem. I’m not a scientist, so
these videos are me sharing my learning journey and curiosity. And my journey over to the UK,
which I’ve dubbed as my “UK nuclear tour,” is a part of that. This is the first in a
series of videos that I’m releasing about that tour. You’ll get to see everything from
large government-funded research facilities, to privately funded fusion, to a small
startup doing something with fusion that you might not expect. So be sure to subscribe
and turn on notifications to not miss those. To kick things off in this video, I
thought it would be good to look at the big picture when it comes to fusion.
And there’s no better place to start than the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and
the Culham Science Center in Oxford. This really is a braintrust of brilliant people
trying to tackle not just fusion energy, but everything that will be needed to
support it. I’ll be getting to the JET and the MAST-U tokamaks in a bit, but there’s some
interesting challenges that come with fusion. Just for a quick refresher, when you’re talking
about nuclear power plants that we’re all familiar with, it’s nuclear _fission_, no “u.”
That’s when a neutron slams into a larger atom, which splits it into two smaller atoms.
Additional neutrons are also released in this process and can start a chain reaction
by slamming into more atoms to continue the process. When an atom is split a massive
amount of energy is released in the form of heat. In the nuclear reactors
we have today around the world, that heat is captured to turn water into steam,
which then turns a turbine to produce electricity. Fusion is the opposite of fission, and it’s
what’s happening in our sun and all stars in the universe. Fusion is when two atoms
slam together to form a single larger atom, however, the single larger atom will
be ever so slightly lighter than the two separate atoms. That extra mass is
converted into energy. For instance, like two hydrogen atoms fusing together to
form one helium atom. The power released in this process is several times greater
than the power released from fission. Once the fusion reaction is established in a
reactor like a tokamak, a fuel is required to sustain it . There’s a few different key fuels
that are options for fusion: deuterium, tritium, or helium-3. Both deuterium and tritium
are heavy isotopes of hydrogen. If you look at this graph, you’ll see the output
differences between deuterium + helium-3, deuterium + deuterium, and deuterium +
tritium. It’s why most fusion research is eyeing deuterium + tritium because
of the larger potential energy output. One important thing to keep in mind is that some
of these reactions, like deuterium + tritium, produce neutrons. And neutrons, unlike
some other forms of ionizing radiation, can actually make things they impact radioactive.
It’s a process called neutron activation. While the radiation generated by fusion reactions is
short lived, it’s still something you have to contend with and address … especially
with maintaining a tokamak reactor. That’s where my first stop at the Culham Science
Center comes into play and the solution I got to see. Before we get to that, I’d like to thank
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in the description below. Thanks to Surfshark and to all of you for supporting the channel. Back
to the first stop at the Culham Science Center. I had a chance to check the Remote Applications
in Challenging Environments facility, or RACE, which is all about creating mechanical systems
to maintain dangerous or difficult to access machinery. One of the systems they’ve created
is called MASCOT, which is essentially acting like an extension of an operator’s arms and
hands. They can manipulate the remote gripper to remove panels, change out components,
and do maintenance at a safe distance. One of my first questions, which some
of you are probably wondering too, was why this isn’t a computer controlled
system. Why use a human operator? “So there are levels of automation in
this in terms of complete automation, given that it's one machine and we are again, very
delicate around everything we do. Impacted delays is so huge. It's still being done manually
and well through the life of this machine. Looking forward to other reactors in the future,
there will be higher levels of automation in that, where they're gonna be running for
extended periods of time, have longer life durations, and be doing more routine
work. Where this is an experimental reactor, it's much more, you might do something just
once. So the idea of programming an automated sequence for it … there isn't that huge value. But
definitely going into future reactors is that.” “So you can retract the robot,
pull the booms in and out, move them into position through automation.
But when it comes to the actual handling of the environment, that's what a human takes over.” As you can see from the monitors, they’ve
created a digital twin of the reactor to work within for simulation, and to also
give them multiple viewing angles of what’s happening in the environment. Before
an operator can even touch the real machine, it requires 1,000 hours of training
time, which I actually got to experience for a few minutes. To say it was
fun would be an understatement. “This is, yeah, photo switch
for the switch. And push this button. The good button
is on that is force speed start to activate. Okay. You can so hit the table.
You can feel the force speed back. Yeah.” “Okay. And. Oh, whoa. That is crazy.” “Oh, another bingo.” “Yeah…” “Okay. This is the best video game
I've ever made. That is so cool." “Can we fight you on that?”
“ Yes. That is so awesome.” You could feel the edges of the block, or the
right hand gripper knocking into the left hand gripper, as well as the weight of the block
when you lifted it up off the table. It was pretty easy to see why those haptics are important
for operation. Down on the floor of the facility they have a massive work area of experiments with
different technologies at play. Not to go down a rabbit hole too much, but in talking with the
team they explained why they’re experimenting with mechanically driven robotics, with things like
gears and motors, versus cables like MASCOT uses. “These are off-the-shelf, two-handed manipulator
robots that we are starting to work with and see what the value is in applying that
kind of off the shelf technology.” “Very different in the technology
they use between them. This one is all mechanically driven throughout
with conceptual shafts and gears as opposed to a cable driven system like the
mascot or the other, off the shelf robot there. They have different benefits and drawbacks. The
cable driven ones are much more dextrous and feel a lot lighter, but the mechanically driven
ones are massively more radiation tolerant.” When I got to try out this setup, it felt
somewhat similar to the training system I used, but I could feel the ticking and grinding of the
gears as well. It took a minute to get used to, but … I don’t mean to brag, but I think
I picked it up pretty quickly. It’s surprising how quickly you adapt
to the machine and get the basic hang of it. My lifetime of playing
video games may have also helped. But even with that training, you
still need something to test it on in the real world before you move
into use on the actual tokamak, which is why they have a lifesize replica for
the team to train on. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning getting to go inside
the tokamak and get a better sense for the size and scope of the device. In case you
didn’t know, JET is shaped like a giant donut, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since a
hint is right in the name: Joint European Torus. “So this is the inside of that torus. So this is
where we come to do training and we practice using mascot, which is our remote manipulator that
we do work with. Essentially like a one-to-one replica of the inside of our machines. So it's
all sort of made from scratch … apart from this section that I'm in right now, this is one of
the actual octas of a jet. So Jet is split into eight segments, but there's actually nine, so the
spare makes up part of the training facility.” “So mascot snakes in round here. And then
we have the task module come from a separate opening. The task module is a table, but a fancy
table. And, the operators can basically practice all of the tasks that they need to do actually
in the machine because it's really important that the machine is turned back on as quickly
as possible. So, it is really important that the operators know what they're doing and they're
really skilled at what they're doing because dropping a bolt somewhere and here would be bad.
But dropping a bolt inside JET would be really bad While maintaining Fusion reactors
is a key part of RACE’s research, it’s not the only application of what they’re
doing. It has much broader applications for other industries that have hazardous
materials or environments that might be difficult for humans to safely operate
in. We’re looking into a potential future video on this topic, so let me know
if you’d like to see more on robotics. I’ve just scratched the surface of what I saw at
RACE, but I was blown away by all of the different experiments. This is an aspect of fusion energy
that I hadn’t thought about or even considered. My next stop was the newer MAST-U tokamak, where I
got to speak to the Director of Toakamak Science, Dr. Fulvio Militello. This ties right
back to what I said at the beginning. The joke that fusion is always 30 years
away is ignoring all of the incredible progress that’s been made over the past
40-50 years. Fulvio showed me the first working tokamak that was operated
at the facility … it was oddly cute. “Our tours start here because this is a tokamak
reactor, this is an experiment that we had here on site working. It's not a model, it's the
real thing. In the 1960s. And this also, to give you an idea of how much the field has
evolved in 40, 50 years, it's an incredible progress. From a device that can literally sit on
a table to what you’ll probably see at JET later.” So things have evolved from small table
top experiments to large scale facilities. The MAST-U (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak Upgrade)
project is important to the UKAEA because it’s a major step towards achieving commercially viable
fusion power plants that would provide clean, safe, and abundant energy. MAST-U is focused
on solving the key challenge of plasma exhaust, which is needed to achieve commercial fusion
power, and its new plasma exhaust system, called Super-X, has been designed
to reduce heat and power loads, potentially making diverter components last
longer. In my conversation with Fulvio he mentioned that the diverter is key for
commercial power plant designs down the road because of how it handles the excess heat
that’s not used for electricity generation. “It’s fundamentally the handle
of a cup full of hot coffee. So, our plasma is the coffee that we want to
drink. It's what we really want to get, right?” ”Right.” “We want to get this coffee as hot as possible,
but we will not be able to handle it if we were just holding the cup with our hands. So we
need a handle … and the diverter has the same function. It tries to separate this very hot
and very energetic plasma from the surface of the device. And so we divert our plasma energy.
In this version of the device here, the mockup or up here and on here in this feature. And that
component is specifically designed to accommodate this very large energy device. This design that
we have is the most unique in the world. Nobody else has it. It's called a Super-X configuration.
It's just a technical term that we physicists use, but the idea is that it's specifically designed
to accommodate this very large energy.” “Yeah. I was very curious about the
diverter. What made that … because that's a very significant upgrade from my understanding.” “Yes, it is. MAST upgrade has already generated
extremely interesting physics associated with this new feature. So, for example, we've
been able to see that the energy that is coming out of the machine is very well handled by this
new component. And the performance that we have observed compared to more standard designs are
a factor 10 higher. So this is a really good result that we have already discussed with the
scientific community and we're very proud of it. And we will also, in the new experiments that
we're doing now, we will want to understand how our plasma is interacting with this new feature
of the device. And we are very hopeful this design will become part of future power plants.”
The MAST-U's 'spherical tokamak' design has the potential to be a cheaper and more
efficient means of providing fusion energy than is currently possible in larger devices.
As Fulvio mentioned, the new diverter reduces the heat of the exhaust material by a factor of
10, making it possible to channel the exhaust out of the machine at temperatures that
the machine's components can withstand. That should increase the machine's lifespan and
economic viability. But in the near term MAST-U’s whole purpose is to continue experiments and
learning how this specific design handles plasma, increases energy output, and more. The ultimate
goal is another big step towards power plants. “And also the element is super important. These
experimental devices are not just for the physics, they are also to learn how to operate
future power plants. How to maintain them, how to make sure that they are in the proper
state. How to improve them. So there is also an important operational capability building
that is done with these experimental devices.” Which brings us back to JET. “Woah …. Woah! This is massive!” “Welcome to the JET tokamak”
“Oh my god …” “Welcome to the torus.”
“This is massive.” “This is my reaction when I did my
thesis on a tokamak that was this big. And the first day I came here
I couldn't believe it was this big.” I can count on one hand the number of times
I’ve been blown away like that. One of my favorite moments was walking into the vehicle
assembly building at NASA, where they built the Apollo rockets, and getting to see one of
the space shuttles getting decommissioned. This ranks right up there … but that was Fernanada
Rimini giving me the tour of JET. She’s kind of a legend in fusion energy research and was
instrumental in JET’s recent record breaking results. So it wasn’t just getting to see JET in
person that was awesome, it was getting to meet people like Fulvio and having Fernanda show
me around JET that took it to the next level. JET has been around since the early 1980’s and
has gone through many upgrades and revisions over time. You can see some of that just by
the way it looks. It’s kind of like the house that Jack built. When I asked Fernanda
how JET has stayed relevant for so long, I thought her answer tied in nicely
to what Fulvio was hitting on too. “One of the biggest advantages of JET is
that JET was designed and has always been operated with the physics and the
engineering teams working together. So you don't just get physicists writing
impressions on the wall and engineers in a corner doing their work there. There really is a dialogue
between the two. And this allows the fact that, for example, when there is a physics breakthrough,
like, I'm going into details now, but there was something discovered in the early eighties. There
was the H mode that gives you plasma hotter. It wasn't quite prepared for
that, but because engineering picked up on it, JET was changed significantly
and we could operate in this H mode.” But it wasn't just the synergy between
physicists and engineers that have kept JET relevant. There’s another thing that’s been
taking the world by storm the past year or two, but has already been playing a role
in all fusion research, and that’s AI. “Do you think AI is playing a big role in what feels like an acceleration
of what we're learning?” “AI is playing a big role. It
will play a big role in the way we control the plasma and in the way we
protect the plasma. So yes, it will.” “We have solutions that come out and say,
oh, maybe we could implement this. Real time systems right from AI and the physics teams
are taking advantage of that. So you can iterate through simulations quickly. We can do simulations
in real time as well. We can do model based stuff in real time these days, which
we couldn't even 10, 20 years ago.” That’s just one example of why I think it feels
like fusion research and startups are accelerating these days. I mean, there’s a lot of factors, but
computer modeling is dramatically accelerating research. Material science advances are addressing
engineering challenges, like superconductors making smaller, stronger magnets. I’ve touched
on that in a previous video about the MIT spin-off Commonwealth Fusion Systems. There’s
a lot of challenging issues getting resolved. As big and crazy as the JET tokamak looks, it’s been an essential tool for
the scientific community to learn about fusion reactor designs and how to
control plasma and the reactions. They’ve added components over time to test different
aspects of how things work and learn from it. But the part that kind of blew my
mind was that they’re also going to be learning from JET’s decommissioning,
which will be happening in about a year. “You can be learning from the decommission?” “Oh, yes, absolutely.” “I love that.” “The samples, the first, for example, they
will take samples from the tiles that are inside and analyze them to see what has the
effect of the plasma been on them. How is the material been implanted in the tiles?
How far all these things will be? How are the material changes from the
nutrons? How do we handle it? Can we handle it all with remote handling or
will at some point people need to go in.” “I love that you're learning from every aspect
of operating it, learning the skill sets, how to operate the machine, how to take care
of it, how to take it down. I love that.” “Yes. That will be absolutely, you know, a first
in terms of trying to learn as much as possible.” The UKAEA is really taking a holistic approach
toward fusion research. They have a new facility built that’s currently looking into tritium
research, which is a major sticking point for the future of fusion, and the fuel that most
people find the most promising. As of right now, there’s not enough tritium production in the
world to support a commercial power plant, so that’s another thing to figure out.
They’re also partnering with private companies to support varying approaches
for fusion power … they have an incredible agnostic approach. I’ll be talking about
one of those companies in the next video, First Light Fusion, so be sure to subscribe
and turn on notifications to not miss that. I was incredibly impressed with the size
and scope of what the UKAEA is doing to support the broader fusion industry.
I was even more impressed by all the amazing people I met during my day there.
Thanks to Oliver, Leah, Fulvio, Fernanda, and everyone else I spoke to. This only
scratched the surface of what I experienced, so I’m going to try and get more of this out on
the Still TBD podcast and over on my Patreon. So what do you think? Jump into the
comments and let me know. And be sure to check out my follow up podcast
Still TBD where we'll be discussing some of your feedback. Thanks to all of
my patrons, who get ad free versions of every video. And thanks to all of you for
watching. I’ll see you in the next one.
