PURSERS UNO DEfllH STRHS 45
700,000 large nuclear power plants concentrated in a single burst of
energy). It is a state-of-the-art laser system designed to achieve full ignition of the hydrogen-rich pellets. (Critics have also pointed out its obvious military use, since it can simulate the detonation of a hydrogen
bomb and perhaps make possible the creation of a new nuclear
weapon, the pure fusion bomb, which does not require a uranium or
plutonium atomic bomb to kick-start the fusion process.)
But even the NIF laser fusion machine, containing the most powerful lasers on Earth, cannot begin to approximate the devastating
power of the Star Wars Death Star. To build such a device we must look
to other sources of power.
MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT FOR FUSION
The second method scientists could potentially use to energize a Death
Star is called "magnetic confinement," a process in which a hot plasma
of hydrogen gas is contained within a magnetic field. In fact, this
method could actually provide the prototype for the first commercial
fusion reactors. Currently the most advanced fusion project of this type
is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). In
2006 a coalition of nations (including the European Union, the United
States, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and India) decided to build the
ITER in Cadarache, in southern France. It is designed to heat hydrogen
gas to 100 million degrees centigrade. It could become the first fusion
reactor in history to generate more energy than it consumes. It is designed to generate 500 megawatts of power for 500 seconds (the current
record is 16 megawatts of power for 1 second). The ITER should generate its first plasma by 2016 and be fully operational in 2022. At a cost of
$12 billion, it is the third most expensive scientific project in history (after the Manhattan Project and the International Space Station).
The ITER looks like a large doughnut, with hydrogen gas circulating inside and huge coils of wire winding around the surface. The coils
are cooled down until they become superconducting, and then a huge
amount of electrical energy is pumped into them, creating a magnetic
700,000 large nuclear power plants concentrated in a single burst of
energy). It is a state-of-the-art laser system designed to achieve full ignition of the hydrogen-rich pellets. (Critics have also pointed out its obvious military use, since it can simulate the detonation of a hydrogen
bomb and perhaps make possible the creation of a new nuclear
weapon, the pure fusion bomb, which does not require a uranium or
plutonium atomic bomb to kick-start the fusion process.)
But even the NIF laser fusion machine, containing the most powerful lasers on Earth, cannot begin to approximate the devastating
power of the Star Wars Death Star. To build such a device we must look
to other sources of power.
MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT FOR FUSION
The second method scientists could potentially use to energize a Death
Star is called "magnetic confinement," a process in which a hot plasma
of hydrogen gas is contained within a magnetic field. In fact, this
method could actually provide the prototype for the first commercial
fusion reactors. Currently the most advanced fusion project of this type
is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). In
2006 a coalition of nations (including the European Union, the United
States, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and India) decided to build the
ITER in Cadarache, in southern France. It is designed to heat hydrogen
gas to 100 million degrees centigrade. It could become the first fusion
reactor in history to generate more energy than it consumes. It is designed to generate 500 megawatts of power for 500 seconds (the current
record is 16 megawatts of power for 1 second). The ITER should generate its first plasma by 2016 and be fully operational in 2022. At a cost of
$12 billion, it is the third most expensive scientific project in history (after the Manhattan Project and the International Space Station).
The ITER looks like a large doughnut, with hydrogen gas circulating inside and huge coils of wire winding around the surface. The coils
are cooled down until they become superconducting, and then a huge
amount of electrical energy is pumped into them, creating a magnetic