Physicists have managed to achieve the highest plasma pressure in the entire history of observations.
Physicists from mit, who worked on the tokamak Alcator C-Mod, managed to achieve the highest plasma pressure in the entire history of observations. On the results, the researchers said at a summit of the International atomic energy Agency in Japan.
The tokamak is a toroidal chamber, which is designed to achieve the conditions necessary for thermonuclear controlled fusion. The latter differs from the traditional nuclear power because if it occurs the synthesis of heavy atomic nuclei from the lungs. However, within 50 years of physics can’t have a fusion suitable for the production of energy.
Inside the tokamak, the atoms are held toroidal magnetic field. They heat up to about a hundred million degrees, turning into a plasma (“hot soup” of protons and electrons). When the particles collide, merging into heavy atoms, a significant amount of energy. To obtain it in large quantities, the plasma must be in stable condition.
Researchers used extremely powerful magnetic field to compact the “soup” of atoms. As a result, the pressure inside the plasma has reached an unprecedented two atmospheres. Although this is not sufficient for its sustainability record, according to experts, is a step towards an energetically favorable reactors.
Although the Alcator C-Mod was dismantled soon after the experiment, the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) in France will be used for further studies.
