Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy - BBC News

two one zero this is the record-breaking reaction it is more than 150 million degrees centigrade ten times hotter than the heart of the sun and it happened here the world's most powerful fusion plant jet fusion in column in oxfordshire it is say the team here a landmark for this technology these results are really significant because what we've managed to demonstrate inside jet is that we can create a mini sun the right kind of mini sun hold it there for a sustained period and get really good performance levels which is a major step forward in terms of our quest to get to fusion power plants most nuclear reactors use fission that's when big unstable atoms like uranium are split into releasing lots of energy and radiation fusion is different it involves forcing atoms of hydrogen together fusing them to create helium as well as lots of energy and just a tiny bit of short-lived radiation creating mini stars inside reactors like this is one of the greatest technological challenges humanity has ever faced get it right and it holds out the potential for producing almost unlimited supplies of energy pretty much forever the key part of this reaction only lasts for five seconds and only generated enough power for 60 kettles but it is an important proof of the principles of fusion but it means there is still lots of work to do do you think you'll see commercial fusion in your lifetime yes i do think we will see commercial fusion you're confident we will yes i am confident i want to believe in it so answer me this why is it taking so long it is hard it is really hard it is very complex but it's worth it and we just have to do it for the future fusion energy is carbon free but it is not going to be ready in time to get us out of the climate crisis that shouldn't stop this research say supporters the enormous promise fusion holds means we've got to keep working on it justin rolat bbc news oxfordshire

Channel: BBC News

Views: 4,020,562

Keywords: bbc, bbc news, news

Id: 0fYiNVRmOA4

Length: 2min 14sec (134 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 10 2022