Instead of the ITER project and the TOKAMAK principle

– a new type of fusion machine

Åke Hedberg

• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9789174636253
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9789175692449
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Engineering General
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Why have thousands of scientists and technicians with access to huge material and financial resources and over 60 years of extremely costly experiments, not for practical purposes been able to solve the problem of so-called controlled fusion? And imitate the natural processes occurring on the sun? Thus a "calm" fusion of hydrogen isotopes into helium, etc. Why do they have so thoroughly failed? Yes, why have they failed to resolve the issue of energy and thus rid the world of all catastrophic problems with nuclear power, oil and coal? These are some of the most important issues the author of this essay sets. But he also provides answers to both theoretical and technical problems and not least the fundamental solutions. And why the theory of what happens on the sun does not match the actual observations. Well, the future ITER project in France? Will it succeed? There is not the slightest chance! Precisely because it is based on exactly the same 60-year-old principles...the principles of the TOKAMAK.

A workable fusion power? Yes, thanks!

Fusion research goes back to the 20s and 30s when researches tried to tame the energy that gets sun to shine. With their new physic and quantum mechanics many thought they completely understood the processes that occur on and in the sun. In the early 1950s they start their projects. And are still going on. And no functional fusion power plants is in sight the next few decades, the truth is that scientists do not know how to do to create the necessary conditions for precious ITER project.⁸ They do not want, cannot and dare not face the truth that it is the theory that is wrong. As Hannes Alfvén - Nobel Laureate in plasma physics and an expert in both fusion technology and theory - pointed out already in the 1980s.

ITER, then, is to "tame solar energy" (or the hydrogen bomb) through a controlled fusion (not sudden and explosive), among other things, the hydrogen isotopes deuterium, tritium or isotopes of helium. Simply stated, it is a question of the opposite of fission, the splitting of certain heavy atoms such as uranium, thorium, plutonium, etc., thus releasing energy. Here it is instead merging of light isotopes of hydrogen, helium, lithium, etc.

The project itself is very commendable: to try to tame the solar energy. It is very much needed and time is running out. For in the fusion process it will not be any radioactive waste to a greater extent. No risk of meltdowns or the like and the raw material is in principle only plain tap water (for the fusion of helium isotopes are much to download on the Moon). The problem however is that they will apply in principle the same old hopeless tokamak technology already tested in nearly sixty – 60 – years! A technology that despite prolonged and persistent experiments have failed. It simply does not work. And why not? Well, as we may now understand it is a lack of understanding of what actually happens on the sun, and in general about the nature of reality. They are walking on in their old wool stockings! There are absolutely no new thoughts, new ideas or theories here.

But awareness of this lack of functional theories have still been around since long. For example, in one of Europe's top plasma physicist Hannes Alfvén in his time already decades ago warned of this deficiency. He has written a lot of this. He was in experiments similar tokamak technology already shortly after the war in the former Soviet Union. And the plasma he and other researchers using the same technology or variants of it since worked on, inter alia, KTH in Stockholm was too chaotic and erratic. It behaved (as we have seen) "like a disobedient child — it refused to obey". He concluded that what was needed was a "rough analysis of the fundamental phenomena of /.../ not a refined mathematical treatment". As Professor and Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1970, he knew.

Therefore opposed Alfvén the conventional nuclear power – fissionskraften – so strong (became the swedish prime minister Fälldin’s scientific adviser in the nuclear debate on in the 1980s). One should make an effort to solve the basic theoretical and philosophical questions first, he said. The conventional nuclear power as a kind of stopgap measure while waiting for a proper functioning fusion technology, he could not accept.

Now he is long dead, but his insight about the lack of a sensible theory for these fusion processes is even more true today. Since the problem is demonstrably still and scandalous unresolved. But still it is "urgently needed" with a "rough analysis of the basic phenomena". The physicists can demonstrably after about sixty years do not claim that what is needed is "further research and experimentation". Everything is literally already tried which Alfvén could testify as early as the 1980s. What is therefore needed is a completely new theory, a new vision of our nature and reality, and thus a brand new technology built on entirely new principles than the construction of the "Perhapsatron" or the ITER which now being built in France. Tragically prevent this expensive hopeless building practical solution to the energy issue. While the resources and money to no avail runs out. And "the best physicists of our time" wasting their time.

*

So I am not the only or the first who points out the lack of theory. It has taken me many years, but now I think I know how to do it. Hope this compendium describe how it all can go to in order to bring about a controlled and from an energy profitable process. But first, a description from KTH and Wikipedia what it is about:

Fusion energy is the energy released by the fusion of light atoms. Energy production in the Sun and other main sequence stars based on fusion. Fusion Reactor is a hypothetical future form of nuclear power plants that would use fusion energy.

The advantage of fusion power plants over traditional nuclear plants would be that the process does not need to leave behind as strongly radioactive substances fission. The problem with fusion is that extremely high temperatures must be monitored, which did not succeed in today's technology. Instead of splitting heavy nuclei (fission), the energy released by the fusion (merging) of light nuclei with processes that are related to energy production in the sun and other main sequence stars. No such power plants are yet in commercial operation but there is ongoing research and development as the potential benefits are enormous. Most have been interested in the following reaction:

D + T → ⁴He + n + 5.2 x 10^-13J

or

²H + ³H →⁴He + 3,5 MeV +n +14,1MeV

Most of the energy consists of kinetic energy of a neutron is liberated. One way to achieve this fusion of deuterium (D) and tritium (T) is to heat the atoms to extremely high temperature (over 100 million degrees) and high pressure (8 atm). Since no material can withstand such temperatures are trying to turn inside the heated plasma in a magnetic field inside a toroidal tank, called a tokamak. So long can handle it just this for a very short time. The neutrons are unaffected by the magnetic field and hits the tank walls that are covered of a blanket that takes up energy and where heat is removed with suitable cooling medium, such as water vapor or a gas such as helium. Another method is to bombard a hydrogen prepared with high-power lasers from all sides to the extreme compression, whereby it by adding a further laser pulse can ignite the process.

So far, there have also been required supplying more energy to run the process than might have been extracting from it. The commercial exploitation of fusio...

Table of contents

• Tack
• Innehållsförteckning
• Foreword
• About fusion processes on the sun and what you should know
• A workable fusion power? Yes, thanks!
• Impressum