World's Biggest Experimental Nuclear Fusion Reactor Launched In Japan

The world's biggest operational experimental nuclear fusion center has been inaugurated in Naka, Japan. The Guardian reports: The goal of the JT-60SA reactor is to investigate the feasibility of fusion as a safe, large-scale and carbon-free source of net energy -- with more energy generated than is put into producing it. The six-storey-high machine, in a hangar in Naka, north of Tokyo, comprises a doughnut-shaped 'tokamak' vessel set to contain swirling plasma heated up to 200mC (360mF). It is a joint project between the European Union and Japan, and is the forerunner for its big brother in France, the under-construction International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

Sam Davis, the deputy project leader for the JT-60SA, said the device would 'bring us closer to fusion energy.' 'It's the result of a collaboration between more than 500 scientists and engineers and more than 70 companies throughout Europe and Japan,' Davis said at Friday's inauguration. The EU energy commissioner, Kadri Simson, said the JT-60SA was 'the most advanced tokamak in the world,' and called the start of operations 'a milestone for fusion history.' 'Fusion has the potential to become a key component for energy mix in the second half of this century,' Simson added.

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