To the uninformed eye, Japan’s JT-60SA machine resembles a device from a science fiction movie from the 1970s, with its maze-like network of pipes and pumps leading to a metal pot the size of a five-story building.
However, within is a doughnut-shaped tank where research conducted at millions of degrees could contribute to the discovery of nuclear fusion, a future carbon-free, endless, and secure power source.
“Fusion energy, the power behind the Sun and the stars, has been a great prize for energy research for decades, ever since it was first attempted in the 1950s and 60s to find some way to reproduce this power of the Sun here on Earth,” project leader Sam Davis told AFP on a recent tour.
“Not only is (fusion) free from greenhouse gases and free from long-lived nuclear waste, but it’s compact, doesn’t cover the whole landscape, and can generate industrially useful quantities of power,” the British-German engineer said.
Fusion, which produces enormous amounts of energy by merging two atomic nuclei rather than breaking one, is different from fission, the process now employed in nuclear power plants.
Proponents of the technique claim that it is safe and does not produce any harmful byproducts, such as radioactive waste that takes thousands of years to decompose or fissile material for nuclear weapons.
