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Nuclear fusion reactor in South Korea runs at 100 million degrees C for a record-breaking 48 seconds (www.livescience.com)
submitted 2 years ago by [M] to c/science@lemmy.world
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48 seconds. I predict a glut of helium. balloons for everyone

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[+] -31 points 2 years ago (2 children)

They most likely ran out if liquid helium as the world is running out of the stuff at an alarming rate

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  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Fusion uses hydrogen and produces helium

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    They use liquid helium to cool the super magnets...

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Sure, but why does that mean they must be losing the helium each time? I don't know anything about liquid helium and super conductors, but I know I don't need to replace my radiator fluid just because it cooled my engine.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Once used, it need to be cooled down to -252c to be reused. Not like a closed loop of oil

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Alright, did some research, first off you're wrong about this being the reason even if this was a plausible reason. The real reason is the ash and heat divertors failed.

    Second, you don't even need liquid helium for super conduction. Here's a few closed loop helium gas coolers that get to 10 kelvin. They need to be refilled on the scale of years, not from a single test.

    https://www.arscryo.com/closed-cycle-cryocoolers https://stirlingcryogenics.com/products/closed-loop-helium-gas-cooling-system/

    I get you care deeply about helium loss but this is the last thing you should be accidentally spreading misinformation about. This process literally creates more helium then it uses.

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  • [+] -9 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I didn't say they did, just said probably, I'm just a stupid redneck.

    Oh and how do we capture said multi thousand deg helium?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago*

    Oh and how do we capture said multi thousand deg helium?

    By cooling down the air that contains it until it's liquid, then distilling that. Actually a standard process though usually you freeze down natural gas not just random air, it's quite helium-rich.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    This is such a ridiculous comment. I can literally go on Amazon and buy some helium right now. You really think if that's possible, a cutting edge research lab would run out of the stuff?

    Sure, it's limited and getting scarcer, but no one's running out yet.

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  • [+] -26 points 2 years ago* (1 child)
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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That doesn't mean that they didn't have enough. The world being in the process of losing helium as a whole doesn't mean these researchers "ran out" of it. If they knew they needed it, they would have purchased it, so unless the world has run out of helium already then they didn't run out of it. You act like noone there could calculate exactly how much helium this uses per second and just buy x seconds worth of helium.

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  • [+] -25 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    OK let me rephrase, they ran out of usable liquid helium. You do realise LH is the coldest known substance known. If you have 5L of usable LH once you use the 5L and turn it into a gas it is no longer -254c A sing use of an MRI uses 2000L at say the low end of cost of $30 so $60,000 and that is at room temps now add a few thousand degrees....

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  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    A single use of an MRI doesn't use 2000 liters, that is the upper end of a hospitals ENTIRE supply of helium. On average an MRI users 70 Liters per MONTH of operation. You're literally just spewing bullshit at this point, have a fun time being completely misinformed on things that upset you greatly, I'm going to go play games

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  • [+] -19 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    You are right. In a sense, they have to reclaim the helium. It takes 2,000L to run it, they reclaim it compress/cool then reuse it. That 70 L/month is what they loose after use.

    Do some reading before being an ass

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