Nuclear Fusion: Energy of the Future

1. Nuclear Fusion:Energy of the Future Joseph Norris

2. Overview • What happens on the sun. • Most efficient energy man has ever been able to harness. • Near-Zero Byproducts. • Safe, No risk of meltdown. • Many, Many more high paying Jobs.

3. Economy • Will be competitive with both the capital and operating costs of coal plants, and lower than nuclear fission plants or newer “clean coal”[which is a false term] technology. For instance, one company projects costs of $0.0001/kWh Compared to the national average of $0.14/kWh. [coal costed 11 cents per kWh in NH in 2004. Current average cost of energy in New Hampshire is $0.17 kWh

4. Types of Fusion • Magnetized target fusion - first confining plasma in a magnetic field, and then compressing the confined plasma to thermonuclear conditions. • *** plasmais a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. • Nuclear Fusion [classic fusion] - involves fusing small atoms together and occurs when two light nuclei collide to form a heavier nucleus • Magnetic Fusion -involves using magnetic fields to hold low-density deuterium-tritium plasma contained for sufficient time such that enough of the nuclei collide and fuse to produce energy.

5. Jobs Fusion is a new technology… Needing all kinds of professionals, and non-professionals. Increased workforce, decreased unemployment Engineers, physicists, mathematicians, lawyers, financial services and technicians/construction. All are needed for the new technology 10,000s of new jobs --- $1,000,000,000s in profits nationwide.

6. Current Infrastructure Power Lines can of course be reused, saving money. Thus, the linemen will retain their jobs, helping the economy. Existing power plants can be upgraded, and improved. The amount of needed power plants will be majorly reduced, Fusion produces hundreds of more times the power. A small plant [in actual size] would be able to provide energy for New Hampshire, statewide. A larger one could support the majority of New England,

7. Near-ZERO Byproducts • No greenhouse gas emissions • No nitrous oxides, sulphur dioxides, carbon monoxide, or volatile organic compounds

8. Time Line for Commercial Viability Depending on what source you cite; fusion power will be economically viable in 5-25 years. Personally, I would go with around 10 years for small scale power. http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=65384 http://generalfusion.com/ http://www.psfc.mit.edu/research/fusion_tech_eng/index.html

9. Youtube Video. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDAZsPkTkMM

10. The Competition • Coal: • No Such Thing as “Clean Coal”*** • Cleanup of the recent coal ash spill in Tennessee is estimated to cost up to $1 billion • The health impacts of coal pollution have enormous economic costs, through health care costs and lost productivity. A recent study in West Virginia found that the cost associated with premature death due to coal mining was five times greater than all measurable economic benefits from the mining. • Other industries depend on the ecosystems coal mining destroys. *** http://e360.yale.edu/feature/the_myth_of_clean_coal/2014/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/coal-oil-gas/4339171

11. Fission In a fission reactor, fuel is added in bulk and the reactor controls the rate at which a chain reaction occurs; if the control mechanism fails, the reaction can run away and a meltdown can occur. When spent fuel assemblies are removed from nuclear reactors, they are transported to "swimming pool" storage facilities. disposal of these wastes remains a major problem. The site at Yucca Mountain was chosen as a first site, but problems have thus far blocked its implementation.

12. Chernobyl Radioactive Contamination Cloud

13. Thank You.