The Tokamak"тороидальная камера в магнитных

катушках" • Invented in the 1950s• Leading candidate for fusion energy production

• Startup

• Plasma heating– Ohmic heating– Neutral-beam injection– Magnetic comression– Radio-frequency heating

Producing electricity from fusion

JETJoint European Torus

• The largest nuclear fusion experimental reactor yet built

• Located in Culham, UK• First experiments started in 1983• Achieved a fusion power of 16 MW in 1997• Q = 0.65• Plasma radius: 2.96m• Uses D-T fusion

Internal view of the JET tokamak

ITER• ITER (“the way” in Latin) is the next major step in

the development of fusion.

• Objective - To demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power.

• The World’s largest fusion energy research project.

The ITER Project

• Will be based in Cadarache, France

• Cost approx. € 10 billion• Construction will begin in 2008• First plasma operation is expected in 2016• Fusion power: 500 MW• Plasma radius: 6.2 m• Plasma volume: 840 m³

Mission• Produce a steady-state plasma with a Q value of greater

than 5• Develop technologies and processes needed for a fusion

power plant

The ITER Tokamak

Fusion Features • Inexhaustible supply of fuel• No CO2 or air pollution • High energy density fuel

– 1 gram of fully reacted Deuterium-Tritium = 26 MWh of electricity (~10 Tonnes of Coal!)

• Very Safe – Reaction can be terminated easily – No possibility of a runaway reaction or meltdown– Low fuel inventory

• No radioactive “ash” and no long-lived radioactive waste

• No obvious barriers to rate of growth once fusion has passed threshold of viability

Fusion Issues

• More research and development needed• Fusion reaction is difficult to start and maintain• High temperature (~100 million Kelvin) in a pure

environment is required• Technically complex & large devices are required• Economic viability

The Future• DEMO

– Intended to be bulit after ITER– 2 GW on continual basis with Q > 25

• Commercial Fusion power plants by 2050?

• The energy challenge and the potential of fusion argue for developing fusion as rapidly as reasonably possible

Fusion works in the Sun why wouldn’t it work on Earth