The first thermal power plant – fertilizer in the world

Xinghuo high temperature superconducting reactor towards producing 100 megawatts (MW) continuously and connected to the grid at the end of the decade, Interesting Engineering On March 27 reported. The US $ 2.76 billion project has officially entered the first stage. The factory will be built on Yaohu Science Island located in Nam Xuong High -tech Park, Jiangxi Province. The report on the environment from the contractor will analyze factors such as air, water, noise and ecology. The report also includes risk assessment, pollution control strategy and long -term monitoring plan.

Xinghuo reactor is a joint venture project between 23 Chinese nuclear industry construction groups and Lianovation Superconductor. Lianovation is a subsidiary of Lianovation Optoelectronics, the company is located in Jiangxi. Jiangxi is famous for its abundant copper resources, key materials for the superconducting industry.

According to a collaborative agreement in 2023, the Xinghuo reactor aims to increase energy use (q value) greater than 30. This Q value measures thermal power ratio compared to the energy needed to heat the plasma in the thermonuclear reactor. For comparison, the International Nuclear Thermal Thermal Test reactor project (ITER) in France towards q value is greater than 10. The US National ignition facility reaches Q value of 1.5 in 2022, meaning the output energy is 1.5 times larger than the input energy.

Lymph node reaction is the process of providing energy for the sun, in which the nucleus of mild element like hydrogen consolidated to release energy. In contrast, the fission reaction is severely divided as good as uranium to produce electricity, the method is being used in current nuclear power plants. Unlike pure thermonuclear projects like Iter, Xinghuo will combine both thermonuclear and fission reactions. High energy neutrons from thermonuclear reactions will promote fertilizer reactions in the surrounding material, release energy while reducing nuclear waste.

A development plan in 2021 of Jiangxi province aims to test and apply hybrid electric project in 2030. In 2023, Lianovation SuperConductor revealed a 100 megawatt hybrid power plant will be completed within 5-6 years. If China can complete the project on schedule, this will be an important breakthrough to help them go beyond similar projects around the world for many years, even decades.