By Sandhya

November 3, 2022

AI is used to develop nuclear fusion energy.

Nuclear fusion scientists have developed a machine learning model to automatically detect and  track  plasma droplets forming in nuclear reactors. 

Nuclear fusion is the process of joining atomic nuclei together, releasing energy. It's the same process that powers stars, including our sun. 

For decades, scientists have tried to harness the energy released by nuclear fusion reactions because of the many potential benefits this form of electricity generation has. 

Fusion reactions  are clean and do not produce greenhouse gasses or large amounts of radioactive waste.

They also release enormous amounts of energy, and the isotopes of hydrogen  that power them are abundant.

However, fusion reactions can  only take place under high heat and pressure, which consumes a lot of electricity. 

As a result, scientists could not  get a nuclear fusion reactor to produce more energy than it needs to function.  

The study, co-authored by Woonghee Han, Theiler and others, was published Oct. 28 in the journal Scientific Reports.

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