Who is the worlds top producer of tokamak reactor năm 2024

The world's largest and most advanced tokamak fusion reactor has gone online as the EU/Japanese 370-tonne JT-60SA reactor was fired up for the first time during an inauguration ceremony in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.

First conceived by Soviet scientists in the 1950s, tokamaks are toroidal reactors that are one of the leading contenders to become the first commercially viable fusion power plants. The name is a Russian acronym for Toroidal Chamber with Magnetic Coils and consists of a large doughnut-shaped chamber surrounded by magnetic coils that compress a plasma made of hydrogen isotopes until it reaches pressures and temperatures that are only found in the interior of the Sun to initiate fusion.

In concept, it's a simple machine and achieving fusion is relatively easy, but in practice it's extremely difficult to build a reactor that can maintain a sustained fusion reaction that generates more power than is fed into it. The Japan Torus-60 (JT-60) project has been running since 1970 and the JT-60SA is that latest and biggest iteration.

The JT-60SA is currently a joint project by the EU and Japan, with participation by Britain, which signed a separate agreement after leaving the Union. The original reactor was upgraded several times as technology evolved, resulting in a complete disassembly and reassembly in 2013, with work finishing in 2020. Unfortunately, this was followed by a massive electrical short in 2021 that necessitated two years of repairs.

The initiation of operations for JT-60SA was inaugurated on December 1, 2023 by the EU’s Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Masahito Moriyama in a formal ceremony. Though the upgraded reactor still isn't anywhere near to being a practical power generator, it will be used to overcome many outstanding problems as well as testing materials and procedures that will be needed for commercial stations.

For 75 years we've been told that fusion power was only 25 years away and billions of dollars have been spent to make it practical. However, since successful fusion power would provide humanity with unlimited clean power forever, a little patience might be in order.

The video below shows the upgrade of the JT-60SA.

JT60-SA

Source: European Commission

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David Szondy is a playwright, author and journalist based in Seattle, Washington. A retired field archaeologist and university lecturer, he has a background in the history of science, technology, and medicine with a particular emphasis on aerospace, military, and cybernetic subjects. In addition, he is the author of four award-winning plays, a novel, reviews, and a plethora of scholarly works ranging from industrial archaeology to law. David has worked as a feature writer for many international magazines and has been a feature writer for New Atlas since 2011.

The EU and Japan have today marked the start of operations of the biggest and most advanced tokamak-type fusion reactor in the world - JT-60SA located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. At an inauguration ceremony in Naka, the EU’s Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Mr. Masahito Moriyama reaffirmed their long-standing cooperation in the field of fusion energy, supporting the international effort to develop fusion energy, including through the ITER project and the Broader Approach activities.

Both sides underlined their support for the operation and technical upgrades of JT-60SA to continue producing groundbreaking research results, useful for ITER and for designing and constructing the fusion reactors of the future.

There was also a joint commitment to strengthen the JT-60SA International Fusion School (JIFS), successfully inaugurated in September 2023, to train young scientists and engineers and develop human resources necessary to achieve fusion energy in the future.

Background

In parallel to their collaboration on the ITER project, the EU and Japan are working together on 3 fusion-related projects in the framework of the Broader Approach agreement. The projects, all located in Japan, aim to complement ITER and accelerate the development of fusion power. The work includes the construction of the JT-60SA fusion device, research into well-suited materials for use in future fusion reactors (IFMIF/EVEDA), and the setting-up of high performance computing resources to support research works for fusion, and of a remote operation room for ITER. The Broader Approach Agreement was signed in 2007 and a second phase of activities was launched in 2020. A study on the benefits of broader approach activities under the current agreement and the expected benefits of continued participation was published in May 2021.

The generation of fusion energy does not produce carbon dioxide - making it an important technology in the path to net zero emissions. The fusion reaction is intrinsically safe: it stops when the fuel supply or power source is shut down. It generates no high-level long-lived radioactive waste. Because of these characteristics, fusion qualifies as one of the next-generation energy sources that simultaneously addresses energy supply and environmental challenges.

Who leads the world in fusion energy?

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said the U.S. is ready to work with other governments on research and development of nuclear fusion, as part of efforts to produce more carbon-free energy and combat climate change.

What is the world's largest tokamak reactor?

ITER will be the world's largest tokamak—twice the size of the largest machine currently in operation, with six times the plasma chamber volume. See the Machine section for more on the Tokamak and its components.

Who makes tokamak?

Tokamak Energy is a fusion power company based near Oxford in the United Kingdom, established in 2009. The company is pursuing the global deployment of commercial fusion energy in the 2030s through the combined development of spherical tokamaks with high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets.

Which country produces the most nuclear fusion?

By far the largest nuclear electricity producers are the United States with 772,221 GWh of nuclear electricity in 2022, followed by China with 395,354 GWh.