The latest developments in fusion energy - with the UKAEA

If you liked this talk, check out our other lectures on fusion energy: - Could nuclear fusion energy power the future? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYjiNj9E4h8 - The need for fusion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_XZ-nh_Be4&t=4s

Former US Navy nuclear reactor operator here! ~7:30 We like nice and boring, too! When a reactor gets exciting, that means something is going south.

I visited JET a long time ago and got to go into the reactor building and see a segment of the torus that had been removed for maintenance and upgrades. Amazing place. The machine itself is hard to describe as it looks like nothing else you've seen.

On inertial fusion, one thing needs to be made clear again: so far, the energy input of the entire machine is still much higher than the fusion yield, only the energy that arrives directly at the pellet to be ignited is lower than the yield! Therefore, the energy yield must be at least 15 times as high as the energy that reaches the pellet. Also, tritium must still be used in inertial fusion, which must first be bred from lithium in a nuclear reactor and is extremely expensive. Per ignition, and 1-10 per second are needed for operation, costs of 100K to 1M dollars must currently be expected. A stellarator will certainly run without tritium as fuel, possibly also without deuterium.

Great video, thank you for the speakers.

Thank you - great talk.

Yet again an amazing presentation. Thank you for making these available to all of us.

Great talk with really incredible speakers! They did an amazing job breaking down the achievements and what they are working on so even non technical people can grasp what fusion is, and why it's important for the future of humanity.

Very informative indeed. Thumbs up

An outstanding presentation. Thank-you to all involved!

Thanks for posting the vid, very informative. Lots of problems to solve, will take time, likely decades. I will continue to rely on the exsiting fusion reactor. Got some more PV solar panels to install. Will check back in every few years or so.

Wow.... I'm old enough to remember back in the sixties when this was virtually a dream.

Who else is feeling charged up about the latest breakthroughs in fusion energy? The UKAEA is turning science fiction into reality!

Great to know the latest work that is going on at JET, ITER and NIF. The FRC approach that Helion Energy in the US is pursuing with its 7th generation Polaris reactor is also very exciting.

We need a new mechanisim to convert heat to electricity. Progess towards this goal is still amazing. Forever 20 years away ... is closer.

To all the skeptics with the "always 20 years away" argument.. Yeah, this is true, of course, we dont know how far away it is, or if its ever even possible to get a stable surplus of power from these things, but I still think we should double our efforts on this. The unbelievable (pun intended) advantages if we ever achieve it, would be worth the effort a thousand times over. And even if we never get a working reactor from it, research in this area will likely lead to unknown discoveries anyway. Everything impossible and futuristic is impossible until one day it isnt.

The first time I heard that fusion was 50 yrs away was in 1979. Old timers said they heard the saying in the 50s. But looks like by 2029 we might get some good news - meaning it will be sooner than another 50 yrs. Then again, digging a hole 3 miles down to tap the earth's heat seems like a simpler way to boil water.

I'd like presentations of the new concepts being pursued by commercial companies, like Helion. The issue of the scale of the instrument is also a serious issue in the possibilities of use, especially for remote sites. In any case, thank you RI and it would be nice to have a follow up sometime soon.

I know this is all groundbreaking science. All of these will provide us with valuable information. It does seem typical that the American version of fusion is basically bigger explosions with lasers.

18:36 that was a wonderful résumé, ty! and ty all the scientists who dont give up hope! maybe with the strategy for decrease of methane escape (if it would be done), our children and future generagions might have a chance still!