What is Iter: Definition and 23 Discussions

ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, "iter" meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at replicating the fusion processes of the Sun to create energy on earth. Upon completion of construction and first-plasma planned for 2026, it will be the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment and the largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor, which is being built next to the Cadarache facility in southern France. ITER will be the largest of more than 100 fusion reactors built since the 1950s, with ten times the plasma volume of any other tokamak operating today.The purpose of ITER is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for future electricity generation. ITERs goals are: to produce 10 times as much output energy as input for short time periods; to demonstrate and test technologies that would be needed to operate a fusion power plant including cryogenics, heating, control, and diagnostics systems, including remote maintenance; to achieve and learn from a burning plasma; to test tritium breeding; and to demonstrate the safety of a fusion plant.ITER's thermonuclear fusion reactor will attempt to use 50 MW of heating power to create a plasma of 500 MW (thermal) for periods of 400 to 600 seconds. This would mean a ten-fold gain of plasma heating power or, as measured by heating input to thermal output, Q ≥ 10. The current record for energy production using nuclear fusion is held by the Joint European Torus reactor, which injected 24 MW of heating power to create a 16 MW plasma, for a Q of 0.67. Beyond just heating the plasma, the total electricity consumed by the reactor and facilities will range from 110 MW up to 620 MW peak for 30-second periods during plasma operation. As a research reactor, the heat energy generated will not be converted to electricity, but simply vented.ITER is funded and run by seven member parties: the European Union, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States; the United Kingdom and Switzerland participate through Euratom, while the project has cooperation agreements with Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada.Construction of the ITER complex started in 2013, and assembly of the tokamak began in 2020. The initial budget was close to €6 billion, but the total price of construction and operations is projected to be €18 to €22 billion; other estimates place the total cost between $45 billion and $65 billion, though these figures are disputed by ITER. Regardless of the final cost, ITER has already been described as the most expensive science experiment of all time, the most complicated engineering project in human history, and one of the most ambitious human collaborations since the development of the International Space Station (€100 billion budget) and the Large Hadron Collider (€7.5 billion budget).ITER's planned successor, the EUROfusion-led DEMO, is expected to be one of the first fusion reactors to produce electricity in an experimental environment.

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  1. Xilus

    Have you heard about the French Fusion Reactor?

    Homework Statement:: French Fusion Reactor Relevant Equations:: F=ma Hey anyone here working on the French Fusion reactor? Heard about it over the radio. ITER just been reading the annual reports from CERN. Kind of a fun read if you haven’t read it yet.
  2. A

    Who has the more promising fusion approach, MIT or ITER?

    There's an MIT lecture on youtube where they talk about novel high temperature super conductors and how it will vastly benefit fusion. He claims that these higher temperature super conductors can generate a stronger magnetic field with just liquid nitrogen. They also claim that keeping the...
  3. T

    New approach to stabilize fusion plasmas

    https://phys.org/news/2019-01-scientists-stabilizes-fusion-plasmas.html By applying more RF power to the unstable 'bubbles' that form in the plasmas.
  4. G

    I ITER high neutron flux research?

    I remember reading that in addition to the ITER, that they're also building a facility to study the intense neutron flux that is expected from the reactor in order to study how to better protect materials from the flux. Anyone remember the name of the facility? I'm having trouble finding it.
  5. U

    Can Ion Trapping Approaches Effectively Contain Fusion Plasma?

    I've been reading some about the ITER project, tokamaks, and other approaches to plasma containment. Why can't ion trapping approaches such as an orbitrap be used for fusion plasma containment?
  6. S

    Can I create ITER geometry for MCNP using VISEDX and Notepad?

    Homework Statement the radius from the symmetry to center of the plasma is about 6.2 metres and the minor radius is 2 metres Homework Equations Can you guys help me to make the plasma geometry for MCNP? The Attempt at a Solution the softcode of plasma geometry
  7. Andropov

    D-shape cross-section of plasma in fusion reactors

    I was curious about why the plasma inside a modern fusion reactor (ITER, DIII-D) is modeled with a D-shaped cross section. From what I've read, it is more stable that way, but WHY is it more stable than a similar plasma flow with a circular cross-section? Thanks in advance (and sorry if I...
  8. G

    Neutron Flux in ITER: Benefits & Containment Challenges

    I was reading that the ITER will take advantage of the energetic neutron flux by using them and lithium 6 to breed tritium for more fuel, and to use multiple heat exchangers to grab their energy. And just to make sure that I'm reading it right, the main problem with the neutrons will be their...
  9. G

    Will the fusion reactor ITER decrease entropy?

    ITER is the fusion reactor in southern France that hopefully will come online in 2018. According to wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER The ITER fusion reactor itself has been designed to produce 500 megawatts of output power for 50 megawatts of input power. Does this mean that if...
  10. F

    ITER Test Blanket Modules: Design & Purpose

    Not sure if applicable here but I was doing some reading on ITER the fusion reactor. I have read about "Test Blanket Modules" being designed by both China and the United States. I understand that these blanket modules will be used to surround the reactor however I was wondering if these test...
  11. F

    What does it take to work at ITER?

    I've seen their job listings website. But really what are the intangibles that would help someone work at this magnificant place?
  12. C

    What is the scientific objective of ITER?

    I have some problems comprehending what the objective of ITER is. I'll explain: The stated objective is "a large-scale scientific experiment that aims to demonstrate that it is possible to produce commercial energy from fusion". However; 1) ITER will never produce any usable energy, so...
  13. Z

    I heard the ITER could achieve Q = 10, what about the engineering (actual) Q?

    If the engineering Q is greater than 1.1 or so, does that mean the fusion problem has been theoretically solved?
  14. N

    Will the new ITER fusion reactor actually work?

    I am hopeful that the new large ITER tokamak style fusion reactor will be successful. According to wikipedia: The ITER fusion reactor itself has been designed to produce 500 MW of output power for 50 MW of input power, or ten times the amount of energy put in. Hereby the machine is...
  15. D

    ITER at World Energy Congress: Will 500MW from 50MW be Achieved?

    I got an opportunity to attend part of the World Energy Congress (going on presently), and found it interesting to find that among the presentation booths for major energy suppliers (including major fortune 500 oil companies, fission reactor manufacturers, grid services, solar, wind etc. and...
  16. E

    Why ITER is a Useless Investment: The Truth about Tritium and Tokamaks

    As the cost of ITER is now estimated at 16G€, I want to point out that such a tokamak is completely useless, because it requires unavailable tritium. That is: - Tritium does not exist naturally, because its life is about 20 years and it isn't produced on Earth by any process; "in the ocean"...
  17. R

    How does ITER plan to produce its plasma current?

    I've been looking on the internet and can't find the answer to this question. I'd like to know if it is generating current purely via the traditional inductive method, or if they plan to use any non-inductive method. I suspect the former but I need to know for certain. And could anyone...
  18. Pattonias

    Does anyone here work for ITER or familiar with its development?

    I am still working on my mechanical engineering degree and I am wondering what advice someone who is familiar with the program could give me regarding a future in the project. I am thinking about joining the Navy nuclear engineering program if I can get accepted. I think that five years hands...
  19. A

    Why is CERN better known than ITER?

    I find it surprising that whilst the average person will know about CERN, due to its heavy coverage in the news and media, only very few people will have heard of ITER. This seems strange because ITER will probably have a much greater effect upon the average person's life than anything that may...
  20. P

    Unleashing Fusion Power: The Reality of ITER in the 21st Century

    Ok, all you people in the know, what's the real low-down on ITER and the possibility of fusion power reactors this century? If you believe wikipedia, and ITER themselves, the theory behind efficient fusion power generation is sound and the problems that exist are engineering problems (such...
  21. Mk

    ITER: Nuclear Fusion Reactor Agreement Signed

    http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn10633&feedId=online-news_rss20 [Broken] Well, it looks like everybody decided to do it! I didn't think that would happen.
  22. T

    How Long Will it Take to Build ITER?

    http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/05/02/afx1991335.html [Broken] According to the above link, ITER "is not expected to be operational before 2050". Is this true? I had thought the time that would be required to build it would be less than twenty years even from a pessmistic...
  23. C

    Extracting Energy from the ITER Tokamak: A Guide to Electricity Production

    Was just reading through some articles on the ITER site, very interesting. There's a bit too many for me to sift through here at work but was wondering if someone might have an answer to my question. How is energy extracted from the Tokamak and how will it produce electricity? Will energy...
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