What if we could create bountiful supplies of energy with near-zero carbon emissions? That’s the promise of nuclear fusion – a reaction where atoms merge.
Fusion is the reaction happening at the centre of the sun and other stars. Unlike nuclear fission or splitting atoms, it doesn’t produce radioactive waste.
Physicist Dr Tom Wauters, standing where ITER's super-hot plasma will be generated, says fusion has the potential to provide limitless clean energy. Photo: Carl Smith / ABC Science
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Last year, scientists announced a fusion “breakthrough”, with one experiment producing more energy than had been put in – generating just enough energy to boil 60 kettles.
Many challenges remain on the journey to achieve large-scale nuclear fusion. At the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in the south of France, a team from several countries are working to secure the “holy grail” of energy at industrial scale.
Carl Smith from the ABC goes behind the scenes at ITER for this episode of the series Strange Frontiers. Listen to hear more about the potential of nuclear fusion and the multi-billion-dollar quest to make it a reality.
The main building at ITER. Photo: ITER / Supplied
Strange Frontiers is a seven-part series taking you to remarkable, hard-to-reach and off-limits places where scientists work. Listen to all episodes on the ABC website.
To learn more:
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Read Carl’s article about ITER on the ABC News website.
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Listen to an interview with one researcher behind the “breakthrough” on Nine to Noon.
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This Our Changing World episode features Kiwi research aiming to improve solar panels.
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The RNZ podcast Elemental features episodes on elements relevant to nuclear energy (both fusion and fission) including Hydrogen, Plutonium and Thorium.
