Cambridge student builds nuclear reactor for college project

A student from Cambridge has successfully built a nuclear reactor as part of his college course.

Cesare Mencarini, 17, a student studying Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, and Physics at Cardiff Sixth Form College's Cambridge campus, built the reactor to generate neutrons as part of his Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), for which he achieved an A* in his A-Levels.

While Cesare did not achieve nuclear fusion, the process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy, he was able to create plasma, gases that are so hot that electrons are freed from atomic nuclei.

The inspiration for the nuclear reactor project came from a YouTube video and Cesare had to teach himself electrical and coding skills.

Given the limitations of the design and a budget of just over £5,000, he had to get extremely creative, using custom-made parts and a Raspberry Pi system.

Prior to commencing the project, Cesare had to convince his teachers it wasn’t dangerous, with full risk assessments undertaken to gauge safety ahead of the project.

Cesare’s reactor is believed to be the only nuclear reactor built in a school environment and he showcased his work at the Cambridge Science Festival recently.

Speaking about the project, Cesare said: “I had to adapt the design to fit in with the budget and my aim is to encourage other young people to develop ideas and think about how we can improve our world and be innovative. The purpose of the reactor is to produce the necessary conditions for fusion to take place. However, as we cannot get the same pressure achieved by the Sun’s own gravity here, we have to use a high voltage to get the atoms hot enough.”

Dr Julian Davies, Principal, Cardiff Sixth Form College Cambridge, added: “This is an extremely exciting project and has taken 1.5 years in the making. We want to give our students the opportunity to work on projects that interest them as well as teaching them how to pass exams and to be brave in enabling them to take risks and develop projects that are applicable to real life situations. Cesare has been outstanding in his work ethic and will no doubt make a significant impact on the energy industry in the future”.

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