Of Interest archive

2013

16 Nov 2013

Fusion-powered spaceships could send humans to Mars

Human travel to Mars has long been the unachievable dangling carrot for space programs. Now, astronauts could be a step closer to our…
15 Nov 2013

Getting a grip—remote handling at JET

There's a new exhibit in EFDA's Fusion Expo, the Remote Handling Experience. Host Dr Phil Dooley gets one of the remote handling…
14 Nov 2013

Junior High students get a taste of daily life in a major nuclear research centre

On 5-6 April, some 120 students from 12 neighbouring collèges (junior high schools) attended workshops on nuclear energy, safety…
13 Nov 2013

New modular approach to house the extensive ITER diagnostic systems

By Lynne Degitz, US ITER When the ITER experimental fusion reactor begins operation in the 2020s, over 40 diagnostic tools will provide…
12 Nov 2013

Simulations uncover obstacle to harnessing laser-driven fusion

Researchers at the Ohio State University are evaluating a two-stage process in which a pellet of fusion fuel is first crushed by lasers on…
11 Nov 2013

Delivery of 1st EU components at JT-60SA

Watch a video of the celebration of the delivery of the first components from Europe and the start of assembly of the JT-60SA tokamak in…
10 Nov 2013

3D animation of ITER divertor cassette pre-loading

Watch a video of the remote handling of an ITER divertor cassette as it is locked into its final position in the ITER vacuum…
9 Nov 2013

Record simulations conducted on Lawrence Livermore supercomputer

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have performed record simulations using all 1,572,864 cores of Sequoia, the largest…
8 Nov 2013

Coriolis effect can stabilize plasma in fusion reactors

According to researchers at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) and the FOM Institute for fundamental energy research DIFFER, the…
7 Nov 2013

Nuclear fusion is the "perfect energy source"

By Steven Cowley Director of the Culham Center for Fusion Energy   Until recently, fears of peak oil and dependence on Middle Eastern…
6 Nov 2013

Fusion power: a 10 year plan to energy security

The American Security Project has released a major report on how the US can accelerate the development of fusion power: …
5 Nov 2013

Will Secretary Moniz put energy back into the Department of Energy?

President Barack Obama has announced that he will nominate Dr. Ernest Moniz to head the US Department of Energy as Secretary. …
4 Nov 2013

MIT experts: Nuclear exit would cost US environment, economy

The United States would incur higher carbon dioxide emissions, a potentially steep rise in electricity prices and suffer a drop in gross…
3 Nov 2013

20 times hotter than the Sun

An 18-metre-tall machine is attempting to harness nuclear fusion, the reaction that powers the Sun, to create electricity. "By the end…
2 Nov 2013

Japan turns from nuclear fission to nuclear fusion

All the world's nuclear power plants generate electricity by splitting atoms in a process known as nuclear fission. But now, Japan is…
1 Nov 2013

A horse named Tokamak

Tokamak emerged as a winter carnival hopeful when he made it three wins in a row at Eagle Farm.   He swept past the leaders at the…
31 Oct 2013

Mining helium on the Moon

Experts gathered in Sydney last month for Australia's first space mining conference cited the moon as the first and most viable step…
30 Oct 2013

'KSTAR Conference 2013' held to study nuclear fusion

Organized by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and National Fusion Research Institute, the KSTAR Conference 2013 was held…
29 Oct 2013

Potential benefits of inertial fusion energy justify continued R&D

The potential benefits of successful development of an inertial confinement fusion-based energy technology justify investment in fusion…
28 Oct 2013

Analyzing fusion energy

Fusion power is the power generated by nuclear fusion reactions. In this kind of reaction, two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form a…