This device is considered the most powerful cannon in the world, with a power of 80 billion watts and a record pressure of 1.85 terapascals. Renewable sources are still required to replace hydrocarbons in the short term.
This device is considered the most powerful cannon in the world, with a power of 80 billion watts and a record pressure of 1.85 terapascals.
International media reports highlight the accelerated progress in the development of technologies that bring humanity closer to the long-sought nuclear fusion. In this context, the United Kingdom is emerging as the leader in achieving this objective with the activation of the Z Machine, an innovative device made of tungsten, capable of generating a force of such magnitude that it could light an artificial sun.
The nuclear fusion It is the natural reaction that occurs inside stars, where atomic nuclei join together when subjected to intense electromagnetic forces, overcoming the repulsion between them. This process generates helium and releases colossal amounts of energy continuously for billions of years.
Reproducing this reaction under controlled conditions has been the dream of scientists and governments since the 1950s.when the Soviet Union introduced the TOKAMAK, the first device capable of triggering nuclear fusion in specialized environments. Since then, the scientific community has explored various approaches, being the EAST reactor in China one of the most relevant achievements to date.
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A world record: Machine Z and its unprecedented capacity
He contribution of private capital has given a significant boost to nuclear fusion research in recent years. An example of this is the emerging company First Light Fusionwhich has achieved successful results with its Z Machine. This device, considered the most powerful cannon in the worldis capable of launching tungsten projectiles towards a capsule containing tritium and deuterium with a power of 80 billion watts and a record pressure of 1.85 terapascals.
To cause nuclear fusion, you need temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees in chambers designed to confine plasma, where tritium and deuterium atoms combine to form helium. The released energy in this reaction it is approximately 4 million times greater than that generated by fossil fuels.
The Z Machine aims to achieve fusion by colliding nuclei at speeds that break repulsive forces, reaching a state known as plasma, which shares properties of both gas and solid. The pressure reached by Machine Z exceeds the 1.5 terapascals recorded so farwhich could allow energy to be obtained from fusion without the need for superconducting magnets or lasers, methods that the United States continues to develop with limitations in scalability and stability.
Experiments related to nuclear fusion have managed to trigger successful reactions in recent decades, but the challenge has been to ensure that these reactions are constant and generate more energy than is consumed.
While China invests significant sums in electromagnetic confinement techniques, the United States is betting on fusion using laser inertial confinement. The success of the Z Machine will depend on its ability to fire projectiles every 30 seconds, managing to maintain a stable, controlled and continuous reaction.
The future of renewable energies
Although technologies like the Z Machine bring us closer to the goal of nuclear fusion, we still Renewable sources are required to replace hydrocarbons in the short term. Each country advances based on its own resources, such as Japan, which is committed to the production of red hydrogen using nuclear energy.
Source: Ambito
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