Hello. After a long break I am now working on the business desk with the Times of India. I'll try to augment the work I've been doing there. We've started a column on innovation. We're looking for really cool companies and guys with a killer idea. This week we featured Universal Industrial Training Technologies in this story, these guys have come up with a table-top nuclear fusion reactor. Unfortunately due to the constraints of a print paper it had to be chopped ... very badly. Here is the complete story.
Power of the stars, on a table
Seven nuclear reactors will be added in India which can generate about 5,300 MW of power in India. Although countries such as Japan and Germany are abandoning nuclear power altogether, India's nuclear programme is still going strong and highly skilled operators are still needed to run these reactors. Furthermore, there are around 70 new nuclear reactors being built around the world.
“Each reactor needs about 1,000 highly skilled engineers. Moreover, many of the existing operators are retiring and these operators need to be replaced as well,” says Dr. Krupakar Murali Subramanian founder and CEO of Universal Industrial Training Technologies India Pvt Ltd, a venture which makes training equipment for nuclear reactor operators and research institutes.
These devices called, the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) devices, are table-top nuclear fusion reactors. Dr. Murali hopes that these devices can help train engineers for working in a nuclear reactor by helping them understand nuclear processes and radiation better. Since the device is a nuclear fusion reactor it produces all kinds of radiation and particles which can be used for research in several fields.
Normally, students in the US would train for working on a reactor by working on a small-scale fission reactor called TRIGA. The University of Texas at Austin built a TRIGA reactor for $5.8 million (not including the cost of diagnostics and support equipment) and occupies about 4,500 sqft. Moreover, the decommissioning costs are also very high, the Cornell University TRIGA reactor estimated the decommissioning to cost around $4.01M. Dr. Murali says the IEC device costs only about $50,000 and there are no decommissioning costs associated with this device.
The difference lies in the fact that TRIGA reactors are nuclear fission reactors, which rely on radioactive heavy metals such as uranium and thorium. The radioactive fuel is bombarded with neutrons which split the atom and gives out energy in the form of radiation. The IEC device works on nuclear fusion, the same reaction which occurs in the cores of stars. In a fusion reaction two atoms of deuterium are excited and smashed together to form helium3 and neutron or tritium and proton with equal branching ratio; the resulting reaction gives out enormous amounts of energy, radiation and particles.
“Right now, power generation from nuclear fusion has not been achieved. It is the Holy Grail for nuclear scientists to figure that out. But, the IEC device can help in research to get to that and help in other fields too,” says Dr. Murali. Dr. Murali finished his bachelor’s degree in India from K. L. University, Guntur and received his first Masters degree from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA. Following which he moved on to the University of Wisconsin, Madison to receive two more Master’s degrees and a PhD. “The main reason why I was attracted to this device was its size. All the other reactors were huge and I was looking for hands on experience. In most of the other reactors the senior operators would give students the data to analyze and students weren’t allowed to directly make changes to the equipment. With this device, I could take it apart and put it back together and make changes as I wished,” says Dr. Murali.
Dr. Murali and his team have built such reactors in US, while other scientists have either replicated or come up with their own designs in countries like Japan, Australia, Turkey, and Iran. The most notable places where research is being conducted are the Los Alamos National Lab, University of Wisconsin, Madison and University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
Device Construction
The IEC device has two concentric spheres acting as a cathode and anode. The outer spherical chamber encloses the fuel gas such as deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen gas at appropriate pressures. This fuel gas is abundantly available in the sea water and can be easily replenished for use in an IEC device.
When a high enough voltage is applied to the cathode the ambient gas is spontaneously ionized and plasma is generated. The plasma consists of positive ions, negative electrons and mostly neutrals. While the ions accelerate towards the cathode, the electrons accelerate towards the anode. These ions gain high energies and cause nuclear fusion, thus releasing energy in the form of various radiations.
These fusion reactions can be controlled by varying the voltage, chamber pressure and grid geometries. While the Radioisotope sources are by their very nature radioactive, and needs to be kept in special containment rooms to prevent radiation leaks, switching off the IEC device can completely stop the reactions. Shielding IEC devices is relatively easy, while the chamber walls stop the x-rays, the neutrons can be stopped by hydrogen rich material such as paraffin wax or water.
Fusion reactions can be achieved using other methods and devices but they usually give out radiation in short pulses and bursts. The IEC device can produce these reactions in both pulsed and in steady state modes. This allows the students to conduct various repeatable experiments with ease and learn about the production techniques of radiation and its interaction processes with material.
Currently, the team at Universal Industrial Training Technologies is marketing the device as a training device product; the previous devices were built when research groups needed one. They have filed for provisional patents and are preparing to apply for a full patent. They are also working on copyrights for certain parts of the reactor which can be used otherwise. They are presently raising funds to help them grow into a global business.
Besides training, these devices have many other immediate applications such as landmine detection, sea and airport security, non destructive analysis, neutron and x-ray radiography, conveyor belt material analysis, medical isotope production etc. As the efficiency of the device (number of fusion reactions) increases, the number of applications of the device also increases. Owing to their low cost Dr. Murali expects this device to play a key role in shaping the nuclear engineering program around the world.
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| The IEC device at University of Wisconsin, Madison |
Seven nuclear reactors will be added in India which can generate about 5,300 MW of power in India. Although countries such as Japan and Germany are abandoning nuclear power altogether, India's nuclear programme is still going strong and highly skilled operators are still needed to run these reactors. Furthermore, there are around 70 new nuclear reactors being built around the world.
“Each reactor needs about 1,000 highly skilled engineers. Moreover, many of the existing operators are retiring and these operators need to be replaced as well,” says Dr. Krupakar Murali Subramanian founder and CEO of Universal Industrial Training Technologies India Pvt Ltd, a venture which makes training equipment for nuclear reactor operators and research institutes.
These devices called, the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) devices, are table-top nuclear fusion reactors. Dr. Murali hopes that these devices can help train engineers for working in a nuclear reactor by helping them understand nuclear processes and radiation better. Since the device is a nuclear fusion reactor it produces all kinds of radiation and particles which can be used for research in several fields.
Normally, students in the US would train for working on a reactor by working on a small-scale fission reactor called TRIGA. The University of Texas at Austin built a TRIGA reactor for $5.8 million (not including the cost of diagnostics and support equipment) and occupies about 4,500 sqft. Moreover, the decommissioning costs are also very high, the Cornell University TRIGA reactor estimated the decommissioning to cost around $4.01M. Dr. Murali says the IEC device costs only about $50,000 and there are no decommissioning costs associated with this device.
The difference lies in the fact that TRIGA reactors are nuclear fission reactors, which rely on radioactive heavy metals such as uranium and thorium. The radioactive fuel is bombarded with neutrons which split the atom and gives out energy in the form of radiation. The IEC device works on nuclear fusion, the same reaction which occurs in the cores of stars. In a fusion reaction two atoms of deuterium are excited and smashed together to form helium3 and neutron or tritium and proton with equal branching ratio; the resulting reaction gives out enormous amounts of energy, radiation and particles.
“Right now, power generation from nuclear fusion has not been achieved. It is the Holy Grail for nuclear scientists to figure that out. But, the IEC device can help in research to get to that and help in other fields too,” says Dr. Murali. Dr. Murali finished his bachelor’s degree in India from K. L. University, Guntur and received his first Masters degree from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA. Following which he moved on to the University of Wisconsin, Madison to receive two more Master’s degrees and a PhD. “The main reason why I was attracted to this device was its size. All the other reactors were huge and I was looking for hands on experience. In most of the other reactors the senior operators would give students the data to analyze and students weren’t allowed to directly make changes to the equipment. With this device, I could take it apart and put it back together and make changes as I wished,” says Dr. Murali.
Dr. Murali and his team have built such reactors in US, while other scientists have either replicated or come up with their own designs in countries like Japan, Australia, Turkey, and Iran. The most notable places where research is being conducted are the Los Alamos National Lab, University of Wisconsin, Madison and University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
Device Construction
The IEC device has two concentric spheres acting as a cathode and anode. The outer spherical chamber encloses the fuel gas such as deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen gas at appropriate pressures. This fuel gas is abundantly available in the sea water and can be easily replenished for use in an IEC device.
 |
| The nuclear fusion reaction in the IEC device |
These fusion reactions can be controlled by varying the voltage, chamber pressure and grid geometries. While the Radioisotope sources are by their very nature radioactive, and needs to be kept in special containment rooms to prevent radiation leaks, switching off the IEC device can completely stop the reactions. Shielding IEC devices is relatively easy, while the chamber walls stop the x-rays, the neutrons can be stopped by hydrogen rich material such as paraffin wax or water.
Fusion reactions can be achieved using other methods and devices but they usually give out radiation in short pulses and bursts. The IEC device can produce these reactions in both pulsed and in steady state modes. This allows the students to conduct various repeatable experiments with ease and learn about the production techniques of radiation and its interaction processes with material.
Currently, the team at Universal Industrial Training Technologies is marketing the device as a training device product; the previous devices were built when research groups needed one. They have filed for provisional patents and are preparing to apply for a full patent. They are also working on copyrights for certain parts of the reactor which can be used otherwise. They are presently raising funds to help them grow into a global business.
Besides training, these devices have many other immediate applications such as landmine detection, sea and airport security, non destructive analysis, neutron and x-ray radiography, conveyor belt material analysis, medical isotope production etc. As the efficiency of the device (number of fusion reactions) increases, the number of applications of the device also increases. Owing to their low cost Dr. Murali expects this device to play a key role in shaping the nuclear engineering program around the world.
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