bechtelfusionscience

Division of Plasma Physics, American Physical Society, Fusion Power Associates, General Atomics, MIT Plasma Fusion Center, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and University Fusion Association. //Fusion Science: Harnessing the Energy of the Stars//. American Physical Society.  **  Where does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials? ** This document was put together by a collection of several different groups which do research and contribute the field of fusion science. The American Physical Society is one of the largest groups of physicists in existence. They put out publications detailing current research projects on a regular basis. Fusion Power Associates is a non-profit research and educational foundation providing information on the status of fusion development. General Atomics is an organization aimed at harnessing the power of nuclear technologies. They perform basic research into fission and fusion and is one of the world’s leading resources for high-technology systems development. The MIT Plasma Fusion Center is one of the leading university laboratories for fusion discoveries. The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is also a leading university research lab. The University Fusion Association is an organization of educational institutions focusing on plasma science and technology. These are all very legitimate research sources and have created many peer-reviewed pieces. **  What is the main topic or argument of the text? ** The primary purpose of this document is to describe the basics of fusion and why it has so much potential and is a viable future energy source. The key to fusion is to heat hydrogen to extreme temperatures which strip electrons form the nuclei of the atoms and create an ionized gas known as plasma. The fact that particles in a plasma have positive and negative charges allows them to be confined by magnetic fields in a reactor. Plasma is actually the most common state of matter in the universe comprising more than 99% of all matter and most commonly found inside of stars. Once a plasma has been created, energetic nuclei of tritium and deuterium (isotopes of hydrogen) will collide and fuse to make heavier nuclei. Deuterium occurs naturally in fresh and saltwater and tritium can be made within the fusion system from lithium, even though it is not naturally occurring. The world reserve of lithium is sufficient to supply the world’s electricity needs for well over one thousand years at current rates of consumption. This reaction converts a very small quantity of matter into a tremendous amount of energy (E=mc^2). For example, one quart of fusion fuel contains the same amount of energy as 6600 tons of coal because this type of nuclear reaction is a million times more powerful than a chemical reaction. From a physics point of view there are three conditions necessary to achieve controlled fusion: temperature, confinement, and density. Once the reaction has been obtained, 80% of the energy can be transferred to the walls of the reactor by neutrons produced in the reaction. The remaining 20% of the energy is carried by helium atoms which contribute to the internal heat of the plasma. **  Describe at least three ways that the main topic or argument is fleshed out. ** There is a multitude of different ways that the topic of this document can be fleshed out. The best way is to read the headings at the top of pages or above each section of text. There are many of these and they are very descriptive. The next best way to discover the primary topics is to read the sections under the blue headings. These are essentially denser, more technical versions of the rest of the material. Other ways to discover the main topic is to read the first sentence of paragraphs and the captions on various images. This information is presented in a very clear, organized, visual fashion and is very easy to extract the main ideas from. **  What three quotes capture the critical import of the text? ** “Fusion energy would complement renewable technologies which are also environmentally attractive, but probably do not have the capacity to power large cities and industries.” “More advanced fusion power systems could use only deuterium as fuel. Although this option is more demanding technically, the world’s deuterium supply is essentially unlimited. Once fusion technology is developed we will have an energy source to satisfy the world’s needs for millions of years.” “Over the past 20 years a 1,000,000 fold increase has been achieved in the overall performance of experimental fusion devices. This record surpasses the often heralded rate of progress in computer chip density and power.” **  Explain how the argument and evidence in the text supports your research focus. **  The evidence in this text covers a significant amount of the information that I will need to provide in my project to explain what plasma fusion is and how it can be used effectively. I will likely be modeling much of my project off of what was found here.
 * Full citation. **