Eleonora Viezzer, born 35 years ago in Vienna, is part of the international scientific orchestra that, over the next decade, seeks to interpret one of mankind’s most awaited symphonies: the development of nuclear fusion (the union of two nuclei of light atoms to form) . another nucleus that releases energy according to Einstein’s famous equation E=mc²) as a powerful, safe, inexhaustible and green source of energy. The daughter of an Italian ice-cream maker and a Filipino souvenir shop worker, who settled in Austria, studied in Innsbruck and Germany (where she received her doctorate in physics from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and is part of the renowned Max Planck Institute). Six years ago, he moved to the Andalusian capital, where his partner is from, and joined the Institute of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics at the University of Seville, where he founded the Plasma Science and Fusion Technologies Group with Professor Manuel García Muñoz. His work on mastering plasma, the fourth state of matter, has received international recognition on numerous occasions. The most recent award, the Princess of Girona Prize for Scientific Research, was presented in April. She is convinced that “in a decade, if the necessary investments are made, the world will have an energy source capable of supplying a family of four with one glass of water for 80 years”.
Questions. His work focuses on high confinement and fluctuation-free fusion plasma. What is it made of?
Answer. On the way to developing fusion as an energy source, we must be able to confine the fusion plasma (fuel of a fusion reactor) to temperatures higher than that of the sun (200 million degrees) and high pressures. Under these conditions, the fusion plasmas tend to develop fluctuations that affect the operation of the reactor itself. Our job is to control or mitigate these fluctuations, to tame something like the plasma.
P Finding the solution of the future in the stars?
R I agree. We’re trying to reproduce on Earth the energy source that drives stars, nuclear fusion. The Sun’s massive mass allows it to confine fusion plasma to extremely high densities, making fusion much easier. On Earth, however, one of the most advanced plasma confinement methods is based on magnetic cages; Magnetic fields that levitate the fusion plasma in the vacuum, minimizing contact with the reactor walls. At the center of the plasma we have 200 million degrees Celsius, while at the wall it’s maybe only 100 degrees. For fusion we use deuterium and tritium, the heavier isotopes of hydrogen: we can extract the former from seawater and tritium from the earth’s crust. When we fuse them, we create a new alpha particle, which is helium, and we release an energy of 17.6 megaelectronvolts [MeV]. If we translate MeVs into more everyday units, it means that if we fuse an amount of deuterium and tritium that roughly fits in a teaspoon (2.5 grams), we can generate a similar amount of energy as a football field full of coal would generate ( 28 tons) in combustion. From every gram we can produce up to 10⁷ more energy with nuclear fusion than with the same amount of fossil fuels.
For example, if we fuse an amount of deuterium and tritium that fits in a teaspoon (2.5 grams), we can generate an amount of energy equivalent to that of a football field full of coal (28 tons).
P Would it be inexhaustible?
R Since we can extract deuterium from seawater and tritium from lithium in the earth’s crust, there would be resources for millennia. But there are other sources of lithium or other elements for fusion that don’t require tritium. At the moment, these two elements deliver maximum performance.
P Some argue that fusion is a dream, that plasma cannot be controlled.
R Fusion exists, the stars and the sun show us every day. The merger works. The challenge is the technology and we have it too. The ITER tokamak in France will develop the world’s largest fusion experiment. Currently, lines of research show that the larger the reactor, the more power it puts out. But it’s another of the challenges: making them smaller, lowering the cost and thereby making them more accessible.
With the right funding, we can see the merger come to fruition in less than 10 years! We have already seen it with the Covid vaccine. It usually takes 10+ years to develop and commercialize, but with the right support and funding, we did it in a year.
P When will energy generated by nuclear fusion be available?
R We are working to do this as soon as possible. The discovery of high-temperature superconductor materials and their more recent application to fusion have marked a turning point in the development of fusion as an energy source, and magnetic confinement fusion in particular. High-temperature superconductors should enable more compact, more efficient and more accessible fusion reactors. That is the goal of the MIT SPARC project [Instituto de Tecnología de Massachusetts] and the company Commonwealth Fusion Systems. With the right funding, we can see the merger come to fruition in less than 10 years! We have already seen it with the Covid vaccine. Normally, vaccine development and commercialization takes more than 10 years, but with proper support and funding, we did it in a year. We’re talking something similar: if you invest everything you need, you can get it out much faster. The question should be put to those who decide about the investments.
P And will fusion be the only power source?
R It could be in the future, but I personally think that a rich energy mix will be built in, where each energy source has its application. For example, the high power densities available in fusion reactors probably make them the ideal power source for high-population cities or systems where we need to generate a lot of power in a very small and concentrated space. For other applications, such as a car, other energy sources such as solar energy, inertial energy, etc. may be more appropriate. In short, we need a clean and environmentally sustainable energy mix, and that’s where fusion will play a crucial role in the years to come.
One of the goals of ITER or SPARC is to generate more energy than is necessary for its operation. These two projects aim to revolutionize nuclear fusion and accelerate the transition from laboratory to power generation facility
P Because right now it’s just a lab project.
R Well, because we haven’t reached net energy production for now. That means we need more energy to run the fusion reactor than it generates from the fusion reactions taking place within it. One of the goals of the ITER project [Cadarache, Francia] or the SPARC is intended to generate more energy than is necessary for its operation. These two projects aim to revolutionize nuclear fusion and accelerate the transition from laboratory to power generation facility.
P It is save?
R Yes, yes, yes, 100%. The fusion conditions are extremely delicate and involve very low densities, which can only be achieved in fusion reactors under ultra-vacuum conditions. For example, the total mass constituting the fuel of a fusion reactor is no more than a few grams distributed over a volume of 800 cubic meters (in the case of ITER). These extreme operating conditions make an uncontrolled chain reaction impossible. The moment the reactor’s vacuum was broken, the atmosphere would enter it and stop the fusion processes.
P Have you felt discrimination in science?
R When I look back, I see things that shouldn’t have happened. In the winter school where I decided to become a physicist, we were just two girls and we were the only ones who were not asked by the teacher to present the project at the end of the course. I didn’t see it then, but now I’m wondering: why not us? There were also colleagues who said to me: “You only won that because you are a woman”. I tell them, ‘Do you really think I didn’t work as hard or even harder than you to get here?’ But we need more women in leadership positions and quotas because there are still many women who are being left behind. To change the situation, we must focus on the smallest. I did what I wanted, but I also had the help of my mother, who did everything so that I could only focus on science.
P Can you do science in Spain?
R I was at the Max Planck Institute, at the forefront of research in Germany, and the change was not easy, but here I have a very important network, an excellent group that has grown and that has given me access to such doors , maybe he would not have succeeded in opening in Germany. However, we compete with renowned institutions such as MIT, the Max Planck Institute in Germany and Princeton University, among others. If we are to keep up and see a magnetic confinement fusion reactor connected to the national grid in the next few years, we need more science-based resources, structure and strategy.
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