Study of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

In todays world, we are facing a problem of energy crisis. The need for energy is increasing with the advancement in technology. Since the conventional energy sources are decreasing day by day, it is getting significant as well as necessary for us to find new energy sources that are available abundantly. Now the question arises, "which source to be used for handling this energy crisis?� Whether to use the inexhaustible sources such as Solar energy, Wind energy, Hydro-electricity, etc. or to use some other source of energy. As we all know according to the law of energy, "Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. The total amount of energy in the universe remains constant. Energy and mass are inter-convertible." Nuclear Fusion is based on the principle of Energy-Mass inter-convertibility. As the name Thermo-Nuclear suggests, I.T.E.R. uses thermal energy generated from Nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two nuclei fuse forming a single nucleus releasing some amount of energy equivalent to the mass difference between the sum of original nuclei and the final nucleus. As we are searching for an energy source which is abundant in nature, it becomes necessary for us to decide those two fusing elements which can either be internally produced in the power plant or are available abundantly. I.T.E.R. uses Deuterium and Tritium as the fusing elements. Deuterium and Tritium are two isotopes of hydrogen. Tritium is generated in the plant itself, and Deuterium is generated from water bodies having D2O in large amount. So let’s have look at I.T.E.R. project in this paper.