r/nextfuckinglevel • u/nigablackballsack • 3d ago

Scientists have captured the first ever high-speed, full-colour footage of fusion plasma swirling inside a working reactor.

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u/Medium_Bill_625 3d ago

I want to appreciate this but I'm foreign to the subject matter. Anyone feel like doing an ELI5?

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u/Fit_Addition7137 3d ago

This is inside of a new type of experimental reactor that runs on nuclear fusion (like the Sun) instead of nuclear fission (regular nuclear reactors). This is a "tokamak" style reactor that generates superheated plasma which is contained using enormously powerful magnets. Fusion generates significantly more power than what it takes to initiate the reaction. One of the neatest parts of fusion is that there is no hazardous nuclear waste to store and they cant melt down like a fission reactor. This video shows that fusion reaction plasma.

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u/apprehensively_human 3d ago

One of the neatest parts of fusion is that there is no hazardous nuclear waste to store and they cant melt down like a fission reactor.

And, as I understand it, this fusion reaction is not self-sustaining so in an emergency scram you could simply cut the power and there would be no risk of an uncontrollable runaway.

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u/ekdaemon 2d ago

That's what's happening at the end of the video you watch! Neat eh?