This document discusses nuclear fusion as a source of energy. It provides an overview of fusion, including what it is, the conditions needed to achieve it, and its safety advantages over other energy sources. ITER is introduced as a large-scale international project working to develop fusion as an energy source. Key points covered include how deuterium and tritium are used as fuel, the extremely high temperatures required to fuse atomic nuclei, and how magnetic confinement is used to control the plasma within the reactor.

1. Name Panagopoulos George
E-mail papageorge@edu.physics.uoc.gr
Instructors 1. Maria Pitsaki
2. Vasilis Charmandaris
Foundation University of Crete
Department Physics

2. Contents
Energy needs
What is ITER
What is fusion
Conditions to make fusion
Fusion’s Safety

3. Lights on the earth at night

4. 2 billion people
Do not have access to
the electricity

5. Vast needs in the
industrialized world.

6. Fossil fuels

7. Alternative ways of
energy production

8. The current reactors

9. ITER a larger project

11. Structure of the atom
• The nucleus of an atom is
comprised by neutrons
and protons.
• Isotopes are the
components that have the
same number of protons

12. Mass defect
Light nucleus Heavy nucleus
Einstein’s Equation : ΔΕ=Δm c2

13. Mass and energy

14. Fusion

15. Fusion in ITER
• Deuterium is a common isotope of hydrogen
made by sea water.
• Tritium is an other rare isotope of hydrogen. We
can produce it from the following reaction.
6
Li + n → 4He +T

16. The most efficient
reaction
Cross section
Cross section is the probability of the reaction to happen

17. Conditions for fusion
In order the particles to acquire
Energy and collide we heat them
in grate temperatures
(150.000.000 oC). Thus they
exist in a state called plasma
where they have lost all their ele-
Ctrons.
For the reason why there is not a material than may hold
these temperatures we use magnetic field to control the
individual charges inside plasma in a process called
magnetic confinement.

18. Magnetic confinement
• The main method to make magnetic confinement, is to
pass current through plasma and create an incoming
magnetic force.
• Because of the plasma’s instabilities we also use an
additional toroidal magnetic field.

19. Plasma heating
 The plasma may be heated by its self. The helium nuclei
that remain from the reaction offer energy to the other
particles inside the reactor by collisions.
 Moreover we have three additional mechanisms for this
procedure :
 Ohmic heating where the current that passes trough plasma
heats it like the a lamp during its operation.
 Neutral beam injection where neutral particles are injected
inside the reactor and give energy to the particles via
collisions.
 Radiofrequency heating where we the plasma in the same
way that we heat our food in a microwave oven.

20. ITER ’s Safety
 Except from tritium we do not have any radioactive
materials inside the reactor.
 Any second inside the reactor there is less than a
gram of fuel . The reaction can not continue unless
we have fuel.
 After keeping in safety the components of the
installation for 100 they are as radioactive as a plant
that produces energy from coal.

21. Books
 Garry McCracken-Peter Strott,
Fusion, the Energy of Universe
ELSEVIER Academic press,
Complementary Science Series, Copyright © 2005 ISBN: 0-
12-481851-X.
WebPages
 www.iter.org
 www.efda.org
 www.jet.efda.org
 www-fusion-magnetique.cea.fr

22. Thank you !

24. In order to heat the plasma we have
to use a Specific type of Radiofrequency
For each kind of particle
Electron Ion Electron
Cyclotron Cyclotron Hybrid
Frequency Frequency Frequency
8 GHz
200 GHz 70 MHz