UK set to make major nuclear fusion breakthrough with ‘limitless’ energy just years away

This procedure uses a system of lasers to heat up fuel pellets producing a plasma – a cloud of charged ions. The fuel pellets contain “heavy” versions of hydrogen–deuterium and tritium that are easier to fuse and produce more energy.

However, Tokamak Energy, a UK-based nuclear fusion firm, is looking to achieve the ultimate goal of near limitless clean energy through a different approach, which it says has advantages in cost and efficiency. 

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Chris Kelsall, the CEO of Tokamak said that his firm uses magnetic confinement fusion, which involves using what is known as a neutral beam injector to heat two variants of hydrogen, the lightest element of the periodic table.

By heating up deuterium and tritium to around 100 million degrees, these hydrogen isotopes accelerate at higher speeds, collide, and fuse to form helium, with one spare neutron, which according to Mr Kelsall carries 80 percent of the excess energy that arising from this collision that’s released from this reaction.

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1713576/uk-nuclear-fusion-breakthrough-tokamak-energy-lower-cost-limitless-power-2035