The Ultimate Energy Goal

As Hinckley Point B closes down, inevitable after extending its expected 30 year life for another 15 years or so, the spotlight is thrown again on the rising cost of generating electricity and its impact on the public. The closure was inevitable, as it had become unsafe with cracks in its graphite core, and after a successful period as a major provider of energy it only contributed 3% of the country's energy needs in its final years.

Alternative solutions are coming to the fore with the country trying to push through major windfarms off the North Wales coast, and solar power generating increasing amounts of energy – and, of course, Hinckley C is due to start processing fuel in 2027. (I can see it from my bedroom window, and it has been fascinating to watch the huge crane barges – Gulliver and its twin – sailing up and down the Bristol Channel dropping in huge components to the power stations off-shore terminal).

In the current issue, though, we cover the golden chalice of energy production – Fusion Reactors – a non-radioactive process, designed to return fuel investment tenfold with a process that burns plasma as hot as the sun’s core, held in place by the earth’s strongest magnets. The IFER project in France, in a partnership between 35 countries, aims to extend the current short life of the fusion process long enough to sustain itself, in the huge Tokamak which uses the powerful magnetic field to confine the plasma in the shape of a torus.

The focus of the Bentley article on extending reality, though, is the development of the virtual and augmented reality tools used to assist engineers simulating the construction of the giant reactor and extending the augmented imageryto remote Oculus headsets – which although great for games don’t possess the accuracy and bandwidth for remote visualisations on this scale. The article explores the issues and explains how Bentley and Nvidia have tackled them for this rather expensive prototype that could pave the way to a sustainable energy source in the future.

David Chadwick

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