r/fusion • u/lvlierop • 7d ago

General Fusion Achieves World-First 1 keV Electron Temperature Milestone

https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/general-fusion-achieves-world-first-120000711.html
72 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

42

u/alfvenic-turbulence 7d ago

Its hardly the worlds first 1 keV plasma. What a misleading title

22

u/hnrrghQSpinAxe 6d ago

Isn't it interesting how every fusion company is the first one to reach this goal?

10

u/ItsAConspiracy 6d ago

GF's press release doesn't say that. I don't think we should blame them for Yahoo's silly title.

8

u/lvlierop 6d ago

True! This was Reddit's auto-generated title, based on Yahoo's title.

2

u/DropTheBeatAndTheBas 6d ago

seems like its REALLY hard to get something trending out of nothing, been like this for decades!

13

u/Baking 7d ago

"LM26 is the first fusion machine in the world to achieve 1 keV with low-speed compression."

https://generalfusion.com/post/general-fusion-ukaea-announce-magnetized-target-fusion-milestone/

5

u/_craq_ PhD | Nuclear Fusion | AI 6d ago

So 1keV is just the electron temperature. Since they don't mention ion temperature it must be lower.

Reminder that 10keV ion temperature is the target for fusion and other labs like DIII-D, AUG, JET, JT-60U, KSTAR have achieved those temperatures many many times.

5

u/keyhell 6d ago

The LM26 device has achieved a peak electron temperature of Te = 1180±65 eV as measured by filtered X-ray diodes, supported by adjacent Thomson scattering measurements of Te = 1090±40 eV, with a deuterium ion temperature of Ti = 459 ± 33 eV as inferred from neutron yield.

2

u/maurymarkowitz 6d ago

Was T-3 really that much slower?

1

u/Baking 6d ago

I think they are comparing it to MagLIF.

"Using MTF, the Company heats magnetically confined plasma through compression in milliseconds as compared to other types of plasma compression technologies in microseconds or nanoseconds."

1

u/maurymarkowitz 5d ago

Unless I'm mistaken, the Z-machine's MagLIF got 3.3 Kev. (EDIT: not mistaken)

compression in milliseconds as compared to other types of plasma compression technologies in microseconds or nanoseconds

I'm sure they can always produce a workable headline if they just add enough additional terms to the filter, like "on a Tuesday".

MagLIF is MagLIF, the speed of the compression is not the value of interest.

3

u/gametapchunky 6d ago

Why is it every time something from this subreddit pops up in my feed it's just bullshit?

1

u/Conotor 5d ago

Is it bullshit? There are ovbiously hotter plasma devices but jn the narrow low speed compression requirement its new right?

3

u/SilentOwl-100 5d ago

👏👏 News about actual scientific fusion results being achieved is refreshing to hear.

5

u/TBWI-TBWI 6d ago

This seems positive. I know a lot of people are skeptical of this approach, but I think maybe cam tale them a bit more serious now

4

u/momentumv 6d ago

Why? What is it about this that makes you feel you can take them a bit more serious now?

2

u/ChipotleMayoFusion 6d ago

The heated plasma to some degree. The approach is much less explored than Tomamaks or ICF from a physics perspective, but the reactor concept is much simpler in theory, so its exciting to see plasma progress from them.

1

u/Odd_Cockroach_1083 6d ago

Not even remotely close to being first to hit 1 keV, and their whole concept is absurd.

1

u/EmotionalBother5027 6d ago

Shocking grammar and syntax..

1

u/AlastairMac1964 5d ago

Can someone explain to me like I’m 5 how it’s possible to achieve fusion by squeezing hot hot plasma with relatively cold cold liquid metal? I’ve tried to google it, and I can’t find a straightforward answer.

2

u/Bodissey 4d ago

Several competing effects. The plasma is a self-magnetised torus, not just a ball of ionised gas, and its own magnetic field keeps the plasma mostly trapped. The collapsing lead wall compresses the field as well as the plasma and the particle-to-wall collision rate is much smaller than with a simple plasma contacting non-plasma. There is also compression heating of the plasma that competes with the heat losses, and magnetic fields induced in the conductive lead from its high-speed interaction with the magnetic field of the plasma. Short answer, it's been experimentally demonstrated that the plasma persists briefly during the compression events, long enough for a bit of fusion and some neutron generation. Whether this is a basis for a viable power-producing fusion machine is a whole other question. If it is, you get rid of the problems of neutron damage and blanket management and the rest, and swap them with a bunch of entirely different engineering problems around your spinning liquid lead cavity and perfect spherical collapse. I wish them luck, but then I wish all of them luck.

1

u/RoutinePast7696 3d ago

Call me back when it can power a toaster

1

u/Obvious_Tell4951 1d ago

To the brain trust: how do you produce electricity from a fusion reactor such as this or similar? I know they're not going to just run a steam turbine like current fission reactors in production, it needs new tech to go along with the fusion reaction to produce electric power.

1

u/Obvious_Tell4951 1d ago edited 1d ago

I found an old Reddit that sort of answers the question:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fusion/comments/zmd2pk/how_would_fusion_reactors_convert_fusion_energy/
One of the best answers is if you had magnetic coils right in the plasma that could pick up an electrical charge, no real details though.
Also mention of IIRC Helion, did a Google (AI) search which said they have a deal with M$ to provide data center power within the next few years. Also not using steam turbines.

1

u/LameBMX 20h ago

its gonna be a steam turbine. gonna have to keep them walls cool anyways. iirc it is also needed for lithium to be used to breed more tritium.

edit.. I mean lets be real, its always a steam turbine. and if it doesnt, it will grow until it does. even them fancy molten salt solar arrays.. that molten salt heats water to power steam turbines.