Let There Be Light 2017

     This is the story of a group of dedicated scientists working to build a small sun on Earth.  Perpetual, cheap and clean energy would be created for mankind.  There have been decades of failed attempts but a massive push is now underway to crack the mystery of energy creation.  This process is possible and it is really inevitable.  The changing factors are money and time.

     In the south of France approximately 50 miles north of Marseille is an enormous nuclear experiment.  It is called an ITER, 37 countries are funding this project and it has been funded by billions of dollars.  It is one of many possible methods to create nuclear fusion.  In order to create the energy, hydrogen gas must be heated to 15,000,000 C, the hotter the atom, the faster it will move.  The atoms collide at very high speeds.  This amount of heat is ten times higher than the hydrogen reaction occurring in the Sun.  The sun has an immense gravitational force and high temperatures that facilitate confining the hydrogen nuclei.  A different approach is needed to achieve fusion reactions on Earth.  There is a natural electrostatic repulsion existing between the positive charges of their nuclei and the fusion of the atoms.  The fusion of light hydrogen atoms produces a heavier element, helium.  Great amounts of energy have been gained and some mass has been lost.  I thought this film was very interesting and the scientists can be very unusual people too.  Once you break down the essential components of the process, it does seem easier to understand but there are still no guarantees that this process will work on Earth??   4* (I really liked this movie)

80 min, Doc directed by Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko with Bernard Bigot, Alessandro Bonito-Oliva, Sibylle Gunter, Mark Henderson, Michel Laberge.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, 100% critic 72% audience, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 40 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in La Spezia, Liguria, Italy; Greifswalk, Mecklenburg-Wester Pomerania, Germany and in France.  Construction of the ITER in France began in 2017 and it is scheduled to achieve first plasma in December 2025.  The reactor will be able to generate a molten mass of electrically charged gas known as plasma inside its core.  Currently between 2018-2015, the work is on assembly phase I.  In 2035, Deuterium-Tritium Operation begins.  Deuterium and tritium are two isotopes of hydrogen.  There will be three phases of the operation with the ITER processing in a closed cycle.  There will be three phases, hydrogen operation, then deuterium operation and then full deuterium-tritium operation.