The Escaped Sapiens Podcast

Fusion Energy Is Coming | Thomas Sunn Pedersen | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #30

Jan 10, 2022

01:56:36

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Highlights

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Episode notes

How to Start a Magnetic Fusion Burn?

03:32

Mining the Moon for Helium Three From the Moon

01:48

The ITA of a Stelowator Fusion Reactor

02:55

Introduction

5min

Fusion Is a Fundamental Game Changer on the Scale

2min

Is Germany the Worst Place to Be?

2min

Is There Private Interest in Fusion?

4min

The Advancements Are Mostly in the Theory or the Engineering Front?

3min

The Physics of the Spectrator

3min

Is That Really Used Today as a Diagnostic?

2min

The Challenges With the Statillator

4min

Is the Willpower There?

2min

10.

Increasing the Field Strength of a Stellarator

4min

11.

Eater

2min

12.

Eater - The World's Largest Fusion Reactor

3min

13.

How to Start a Magnetic Fusion Burn?

4min

14.

Controlling the Reactor's Reaction Rate

3min

15.

Fusion Power Plant

3min

16.

Separation of Helium and Tritium

2min

17.

Tritium Is a Rare Isotope

4min

18.

Iter

4min

19.

The ITA of a Stelowator Fusion Reactor

3min

20.

Is a Fission Reactor Comparable to a Power Plant?

5min

21.

The Problem of the Nuclear Waste in a Fission Power Plant

2min

22.

The Engineering of the Fusion Power Plant

5min

23.

What Are the Big Stumbling Blocks That You Need to Overcome?

1min

24.

Fueling the Plasma

5min

25.

The Problem of the Stellarator Is a Real Showstopper

6min

26.

Using a Statillator Power Plant to Produce Energy

4min

27.

Build in Margin to Take Care of the Risks That We See

2min

28.

Is the Installed Power Better Than the Actual Produced?

4min

29.

High Temperature Superconductors

3min

30.

The Future of Fusion?

6min

31.

The Magical Funding Ferry

2min

32.

Is There a Commercial Rollout of Wind Farms?

4min

33.

Do You See Interstellar Travel as a Realistic Application?

2min

34.

Is Tridium on the Moon?

4min

35.

Mining the Moon for Helium Three From the Moon

2min

This is a conversation with Thomas Sunn Pedersen, Director of the Stellarator Edge and Divertor Physics Division at the Greifswald branch of the Max-Planck Institute of Plasma Physics in Germany. Thomas explains the progress that has occurred in fusion research over the past few decades, and how far away are we are from creating practical fusion reactors. He also discusses the obstacles that still need to be overcome, and the potential social, political, and environmental impacts of fusion technology.

►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zWAJ0QylWig

►Find out more about Thomas' research here: https://www.ipp.mpg.de/1084854/pedersen

►Images and diagrams of ITER can be found here: https://www.iter.org/press

►Images at 00:16:16 and 00:19:39 taken with permission from T. Sunn Pedersen et al. Nature Communications 7, Article number: 13493 (2016)

►The short 20s clip at 00:38:00 labelled `Wigner RCP' was taken using a high time resolution camera, and shows the genesis and growth of the plasma in Wendelstein 7-X. It was provided by Centre for Energy Research in Hungary.