UK takes step towards world's first fusion nuclear power plant

By portal-3

Reino Unido da un paso hacia la primera central nuclear de fusión del mundo

Known as Spherical tokamak for energy production (STEP), the United Kingdom today embarked on a step towards building the world's first nuclear fusion power station, launching a search for a site of more than 100 hectares where it can be connected to the electricity grid.

However, there are still big hurdles to overcome before it can start generating power. No fusion reactor has so far produced more energy than it consumed. That could change in 2025, when the world's largest fusion project, ITER in France, turns on.

Master Upgrade

Master Upgrade (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) will use an innovative design known as a spherical tokamak and could remove some of the obstacles to delivering clean, unlimited power to the grid. Most tokamaks are donut shaped. But in Mast Upgrade, the size of the nut hole has been reduced as much as possible, giving the plasma a nearly spherical profile.

Experimento Fusion Reino Unido Energia Limpia 9434 Fig 3

STEP's energy production target is more modest (a net gain of 100MW) but, unlike ITER, it will be connected to the ordinary electrical grid to understand how a fusion plant operates day in and day out.

The plant is being presented as an important platform in efforts to reach the UK's target of net zero emissions by 2050. The UK is not the only country aiming to build a commercial fusion reactor. A Chinese proposal, the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), could come into operation in 2035. And DEMO, the European successor to ITER, is planned for the 2050s.

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), the government body that oversees STEP, hopes construction can begin around 2030, with the plant operational as early as 2040.

The tokamak is a fusion device that uses magnetic fields to confine plasma (hot ionized gas) within a container. This plasma allows light elements to fuse and produce energy.


The news

UK takes step towards world's first fusion nuclear power plant

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.

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These are the first radishes to be grown on the International Space Station

By portal-3

Estos son los primeros rábanos que se cultivan en la Estación Espacial Internacional

As part of the Plant Habitat-02 experiment, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins has harvested the first radishes grown aboard the International Space Station.

The following radish shows the 27-day process of radish growth on the space station accelerated for the study in 10 seconds.

Why radishes?

Rubins meticulously picked and wrapped each of the 20 radish plants in aluminum foil, placing them in cold storage for the trip back to Earth in 2021. As they grew inside the habitat, The radishes required little maintenance from the crew.

But why radishes? Because they are nutritious, grow quickly, and are genetically similar to Arabidopsis, a plant frequently studied in microgravity.

As explained Nicole Dufour, NASA APH program manager at Kennedy Space Center:

Radishes are a different type of crop compared to the leafy greens that astronauts previously grew on the space station, or the baby wheat that was the first crop grown on the APH. Growing a variety of crops helps us determine which plants thrive in microgravity and offer the best variety and nutritional balance for astronauts on long-duration missions.

Radishes In Aph

Sophisticated control systems supply water, while control chambers and more than 180 sensors in the chamber allow researchers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to monitor plant growth, as well as regulate levels of humidity, temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration.


The news

These are the first radishes to be grown on the International Space Station

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.

Read More